Deletion of the WWOX gene and frequent loss of its protein expression in human osteosarcoma
Received 23 September 2009; accepted 28 September 2009. published online 09 November 2009.
Abstract
To evaluate the role of WWOX gene in human osteosarcoma, array comparative genomic hybridization on 10 frozen osteosarcoma specimens and immunohistochemical staining of 55 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues for WWOX was performed. Deletion of the WWOX gene was observed in 3 of 10 samples and the WWOX protein was undetectable in 34 of 55 osteosarcomas. This is the first investigation of the role of WWOX gene in human osteosarcoma. The WWOX gene deletion, loss of its protein expression, and lack of correlation of WWOX expression with patient survival suggest loss of WWOX expression is an early event in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma and the phenotypic results of its deletion do not imminently result in patient death.
aDepartment of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Tianjin 30060, China
bDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Tianjin 30060, China
cDepartment of Pathology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital and Institute, Tianjin 30060, China
dDepartment of Diagnostics, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 30060, China
eDepartment of Pathology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
fDepartment of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Corresponding author. Address: Department of Pathology, Unit 85, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, Texas 77030, USA. Tel.: +1 713 745 1103; fax: +1 713 792 5549.
ABSTRACT