| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Short Communication |


From the Departments of Pathology,*
Oncological
Sciences,
and Human
Genetics,§
University of Utah Health Sciences
Center, Salt Lake City, Utah; and The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center,
Seattle, Washington
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Materials and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The frequency of germline polymorphisms in BAT-26 and BAT-40 was evaluated in a population-based set of germline DNAs (prepared from lymphoblastoid cells) from 225 individuals with colon cancer and 307 age- and sex-matched controls without colon cancer. Because of the relative rarity of BAT-26 polymorphisms, this microsatellite was also evaluated in a population-based set13 of germline DNAs (blood or normal colonic mucosa) from 1664 individuals with colon cancer. For these germline determinations, a 5' tail (GTTTCT) was added to the reverse primer to complete the addition of an extra adenosine to PCR products.14 Reported PCR product sizes include a subtraction of 6 bp for comparison with PCRs performed without a 5' tail.
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
2 test). Sixteen of the 19 unstable cancers (84%) were
right-sided, and these 16 tumors comprised 26.7% of the 60 right-sided
cancers that were evaluated. Of the 67 left-sided cancers that were
evaluated, three (4.5%) were unstable. The difference between the
proportion of right-sided cancers that were unstable and left-sided
cancers that were unstable (26.7% versus 4.5%) is
statistically significant (P < 0.01,
2 test).
|
1 cm) right-sided
adenomas, and 38 large left-sided adenomas. Microsatellite instability
was identified in three of the 164 adenomas (1.8%, Table 1B
2 test). Two of the 79 right-sided adenomas (2.5%) were
unstable, versus one of 85 (1.2%) left-sided adenomas. The
proportion of unstable right-sided adenomas is significantly less than
the proportion of unstable right-sided carcinomas (2.5%
versus 26.7%; P < 0.001,
2
test).
BAT-40 polymorphisms were identified in the germline of the original
set of 289 individuals with colorectal adenomas and carcinomas, with
allele sizes ranging from 87 to 111. The population frequency of these
polymorphisms was then determined in a set of 225 individuals with
colon cancer and 307 age- and sex-matched controls. Table 2
shows the allele sizes and the number
of times each allele was observed. BAT-40 allele sizes in unstable
adenomas and carcinomas are also shown in Table 2
. There is nearly
complete overlap in the sizes of BAT-40 alleles in the germline and
those observed in unstable tumors. This is true even if one considers
only the shortened BAT-40 tumor alleles (as demonstrated by comparison
with the respective germline DNA); those sizes range from 88 to 102 and
are completely encompassed by the germline range of 81111. Only one
tumor allele occurs outside of the range of germline alleles. This
118-bp allele is actually an insertion mutation, as the associated
germline alleles were 96 and 107.
|
|
Representative examples of BAT-26 germline polymorphisms and BAT-26
deletions in unstable tumors are shown in Figure 2
. BAT-26 alleles in tumors from
individuals with germline polymorphisms appear very similar to BAT-26
alleles in unstable tumors; as in the case with BAT-40 (see above), the
polymorphisms are only identifiable as such by the observation of
identical alleles in the germline.
|
2 test). In the population-based set of individuals with colon cancer and age- and sex-matched controls, there were two BAT-26 germline polymorphisms smaller than 120 (114-bp alleles) in 204 individuals with colon cancer and one such polymorphism (118-bp allele) in 287 controls. None of the tumors from individuals with BAT-26 polymorphisms in any sample showed generalized microsatellite instability. No difference was observed in the frequency or type of BAT-40 germline polymorphisms between individuals with colon cancer and age- and sex-matched controls (data not shown).
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
We identified substantial germline polymorphism in BAT-40, with nearly
complete overlap of BAT-40 alleles in the germline with those in
unstable tumors. As demonstrated in Figure 1
, polymorphisms in BAT-40
could be misinterpreted as instability-related mutations if the
corresponding germline DNA is not evaluated. Consistent with a recent
study,15
the polymorphic nature of BAT-40 indicates that
this microsatellite cannot be used to determine instability accurately
in a tumor without reference to the respective normal DNA. One unstable
tumor contained a BAT-40 insertion mutation of at least 11 bases. This
appears to be the first identification of an insertion mutation, as to
our knowledge all previously reported mutations were
deletions.15
Germline polymorphisms were also rarely seen in BAT-26, with an overall rate of 0.7%, and a frequency in African Americans of 7.7%. This study represents the first identification of such polymorphisms. Of interest is a recent study of BAT-26 instability in over 500 tumors from several primary sites, which identified three false positives; that is, these were tumors in which BAT-26 was shortened, but the tumor was classified as stable by other mononucleotide repeats and by a large panel of dinucleotide repeats.3 The BAT-26 alleles in these "false positives" were 7 and 12 bp shorter than the most common allele. This would translate into allele sizes of 115 and 110 under our experimental conditions, and these values are very close to the germline polymorphisms of 114 and 110112 bp that we identified. Indeed, the substantial ladder associated with BAT-26 could lead to difficulties in distinguishing a 115-bp allele from a 114-bp allele, or a 111-bp allele from a 110-bp or 112-bp. Moreover, the rate of "false positivity" of 0.5% is similar to the overall rate of BAT-26 polymorphism of 0.7% that we observed. It is possible that evaluation of germline DNA in the previous study would have revealed germline polymorphisms as the explanation for these "false positives."
Substantial overlap between shortened BAT-26 germline alleles and
shortened BAT-26 alleles in unstable tumors was present. As shown in
Figure 2
, this overlap indicates that BAT-26 instability cannot be
evaluated with 100% accuracy without reference to normal DNA. Although
mistakes in assignment of instability status without reference to
normal DNA would be relatively rare, such mistakes could have a
profound impact on a study in which instability itself was relatively
rare, a relatively large percentage of African Americans were studied,
and/or in which several lesions from an individual with a germline
polymorphism were evaluated.
The addition of BAT-26 and BAT-40 to our panel of microsatellites did not result in a substantial increase in the detection of sporadic adenoma instability. Such instability was still quite rare, and the proportion of right-sided unstable adenomas (2.5%) was significantly less than the proportion of right-sided unstable carcinomas (26.7%), implying that instability is a relatively late change in the adenoma/carcinoma sequence. This is in contrast to a previous study of BAT-26 and BAT-40, which found that 25% of right-sided adenomas, even relatively early adenomas, exhibit microsatellite instability, implying that instability is an early change.9 That study assumed that BAT-40 and BAT-26 were "quasimonomorphic" in the germline, however, and compared tumor results with germline data from a set of 10 unrelated individuals rather than with the respective normal DNAs. Given the germline polymorphisms in BAT-40, as we (see above) and others15 have identified, and in BAT-26 (see above), it is clear that accurate evaluation of the instability status of these microsatellites requires comparison of tumor results with those obtained from the respective germline DNA. Thus it is possible that some of the apparent adenoma instability identified in BAT-26 and BAT-40 by this previous study was actually the result of germline polymorphisms, and that instability in sporadic adenomas, as we and others have demonstrated,4-8 is quite rare.
Significant differences in the frequency of BAT-26 or BAT-40 polymorphisms were not observed in colon cancer cases versus controls. Because of the rarity of BAT-26 polymorphisms, however, analysis of a larger series of individuals, especially African Americans, would be necessary to exclude an increased risk of colorectal neoplasia associated with these polymorphisms.
In conclusion, microsatellite instability determined by BAT-26 and BAT-40 correlates with microsatellite instability determined by a panel of tetranucleotide repeats and is similarly much less common in sporadic colorectal adenomas than in carcinomas. These microsatellites may be very useful in evaluating instability in small tumors, as sufficient DNA to be amplified by large panels of microsatellites is not always available from such lesions. Nonetheless, germline polymorphisms in both BAT-26 (especially in African Americans) and BAT-40 limit their utility in determinations of microsatellite instability without corresponding normal DNA.
| Acknowledgements |
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
Supported by grant numbers CA01755, CA48998, and CA61757 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and M01-RR064 (National Center Research Resources). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NCI.
Accepted for publication March 10, 1999.
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
R. M. Xicola, X. Llor, E. Pons, A. Castells, C. Alenda, V. Pinol, M. Andreu, S. Castellvi-Bel, A. Paya, R. Jover, et al. Performance of Different Microsatellite Marker Panels for Detection of Mismatch Repair-Deficient Colorectal Tumors J Natl Cancer Inst, February 7, 2007; 99(3): 244 - 252. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
W. S. Samowitz, H. Albertsen, C. Sweeney, J. Herrick, B. J. Caan, K. E. Anderson, R. K. Wolff, and M. L. Slattery Association of Smoking, CpG Island Methylator Phenotype, and V600E BRAF Mutations in Colon Cancer J Natl Cancer Inst, December 6, 2006; 98(23): 1731 - 1738. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
O. Buhard, F. Cattaneo, Y. F. Wong, S. F. Yim, E. Friedman, J.-F. Flejou, A. Duval, and R. Hamelin Multipopulation Analysis of Polymorphisms in Five Mononucleotide Repeats Used to Determine the Microsatellite Instability Status of Human Tumors J. Clin. Oncol., January 10, 2006; 24(2): 241 - 251. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
P. Benatti, R. Gafa, D. Barana, M. Marino, A. Scarselli, M. Pedroni, I. Maestri, L. Guerzoni, L. Roncucci, M. Menigatti, et al. Microsatellite Instability and Colorectal Cancer Prognosis Clin. Cancer Res., December 1, 2005; 11(23): 8332 - 8340. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. M. Ulrich, K. Curtin, W. Samowitz, J. Bigler, J. D. Potter, B. Caan, and M. L. Slattery MTHFR Variants Reduce the Risk of G:C->A:T Transition Mutations within the p53 Tumor Suppressor Gene in Colon Tumors J. Nutr., October 1, 2005; 135(10): 2462 - 2467. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Baida, S. M. Farrington, P. Galofre, R. Marcos, and A. Velazquez Thyroid Cancer Susceptibility and THRA1 and BAT-40 Repeats Polymorphisms Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., March 1, 2005; 14(3): 638 - 642. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Alazzouzi, E. Domingo, S. Gonzalez, I. Blanco, M. Armengol, E. Espin, A. Plaja, S. Schwartz, G. Capella, and S. Schwartz Jr Low levels of microsatellite instability characterize MLH1 and MSH2 HNPCC carriers before tumor diagnosis Hum. Mol. Genet., January 15, 2005; 14(2): 235 - 239. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. Whitney, J. Skoletsky, K. Moore, K. Boynton, L. Kann, R. Brand, S. Syngal, M. Lawson, and A. Shuber Enhanced Retrieval of DNA from Human Fecal Samples Results in Improved Performance of Colorectal Cancer Screening Test J. Mol. Diagn., November 1, 2004; 6(4): 386 - 395. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. C. C. Wong, E. S. F. Lo, K. C. Lee, J. K. C. Chan, and W. L. W. Hsiao Prognostic and Diagnostic Significance of {beta}-Catenin Nuclear Immunostaining in Colorectal Cancer Clin. Cancer Res., February 15, 2004; 10(4): 1401 - 1408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
G.M. Nash, M. Gimbel, J. Shia, A.T. Culliford, D.R. Nathanson, M. Ndubuisi, Y. Yamaguchi, Z.S. Zeng, F. Barany, and P.B. Paty Automated, Multiplex Assay for High-Frequency Microsatellite Instability in Colorectal Cancer J. Clin. Oncol., August 15, 2003; 21(16): 3105 - 3112. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
B. Diergaarde, A. Vrieling, A. A. van Kraats, G. N.P. van Muijen, F. J. Kok, and E. Kampman Cigarette smoking and genetic alterations in sporadic colon carcinomas Carcinogenesis, March 1, 2003; 24(3): 565 - 571. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
L. Ricciardiello, A. Goel, V. Mantovani, T. Fiorini, S. Fossi, D. K. Chang, V. Lunedei, P. Pozzato, R. M. Zagari, L. De Luca, et al. Frequent Loss of hMLH1 by Promoter Hypermethylation Leads to Microsatellite Instability in Adenomatous Polyps of Patients with a Single First-Degree Member Affected by Colon Cancer Cancer Res., February 15, 2003; 63(4): 787 - 792. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. L. Bacon, M. G. Dunlop, and S. M. Farrington Hypermutability at a poly(A/T) tract in the human germline Nucleic Acids Res., November 1, 2001; 29(21): 4405 - 4413. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
W. S. Samowitz, K. Curtin, K.-N. Ma, D. Schaffer, L. W. Coleman, M. Leppert, and M. L. Slattery Microsatellite Instability in Sporadic Colon Cancer Is Associated with an Improved Prognosis at the Population Level Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., September 1, 2001; 10(9): 917 - 923. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
R. B Chadwick, R. E Pyatt, T. H Niemann, S. K Richards, C. K Johnson, M. W Stevens, J. E Meek, H. Hampel, T. W Prior, and A. de la Chapelle Hereditary and somatic DNA mismatch repair gene mutations in sporadic endometrial carcinoma J. Med. Genet., July 1, 2001; 38(7): 461 - 466. [Full Text] |
||||
![]() |
W. Atkin and J. P. Martin Stool DNA-Based Colorectal Cancer Detection: Finding the Needle in the Haystack J Natl Cancer Inst, June 6, 2001; 93(11): 798 - 799. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. M. Dong, G. Traverso, C. Johnson, L. Geng, R. Favis, K. Boynton, K. Hibi, S. N. Goodman, M. D'Allessio, P. Paty, et al. Detecting Colorectal Cancer in Stool With the Use of Multiple Genetic Targets J Natl Cancer Inst, June 6, 2001; 93(11): 858 - 865. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Loukola, K. Eklin, P. Laiho, R. Salovaara, P. Kristo, H. Jarvinen, J.-P. Mecklin, V. Launonen, and L. A. Aaltonen Microsatellite Marker Analysis in Screening for Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC) Cancer Res., June 1, 2001; 61(11): 4545 - 4549. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
W. S. Samowitz, J. A. Holden, K. Curtin, S. L. Edwards, A. R. Walker, H. A. Lin, M. A. Robertson, M. F. Nichols, K. M. Gruenthal, B. J. Lynch, et al. Inverse Relationship between Microsatellite Instability and K-ras and p53 Gene Alterations in Colon Cancer Am. J. Pathol., April 1, 2001; 158(4): 1517 - 1524. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Alexander, T. Watanabe, T.-T. Wu, A. Rashid, S. Li, and S. R. Hamilton Histopathological Identification of Colon Cancer with Microsatellite Instability Am. J. Pathol., February 1, 2001; 158(2): 527 - 535. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. L. Slattery, J. D. Potter, K. Curtin, S. Edwards, K.-N. Ma, K. Anderson, D. Schaffer, and W. S. Samowitz Estrogens Reduce and Withdrawal of Estrogens Increase Risk of Microsatellite Instability-positive Colon Cancer Cancer Res., January 1, 2001; 61(1): 126 - 130. [Abstract] [Full Text] |
||||
![]() |
P. S. Moore, G. Zamboni, A. Brighenti, D. Lissandrini, D. Antonello, P. Capelli, G. Rigaud, M. Falconi, and A. Scarpa Molecular Characterization of Pancreatic Serous Microcystic Adenomas : Evidence for a Tumor Suppressor Gene on Chromosome 10q Am. J. Pathol., January 1, 2001; 158(1): 317 - 321. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. L. Slattery, K. Curtin, K. Anderson, K.-N. Ma, L. Ballard, S. Edwards, D. Schaffer, J. Potter, M. Leppert, and W. S. Samowitz Associations Between Cigarette Smoking, Lifestyle Factors, and Microsatellite Instability in Colon Tumors J Natl Cancer Inst, November 15, 2000; 92(22): 1831 - 1836. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J R JASS;, B CURRAN, K LENEHAN, H MULCAHY, O TIGHE, M A BENNETT, E W KAY, D P O'DONOGHUE, M LEADER, and D T CROKE Replication error phenotype in colorectal cancer Reply Gut, October 1, 2000; 47(4): 597 - 598. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
D. C Desai, J. C Lockman, R. B Chadwick, X. Gao, A. Percesepe, D G. R Evans, M. Miyaki, S. T. Yuen, P. Radice, E. R Maher, et al. Recurrent germline mutation in MSH2 arises frequently de novo J. Med. Genet., September 1, 2000; 37(9): 646 - 652. [Abstract] [Full Text] |
||||
![]() |
R. Salovaara, A. Loukola, P. Kristo, H. Kaariainen, H. Ahtola, M. Eskelinen, N. Harkonen, R. Julkunen, E. Kangas, S. Ojala, et al. Population-Based Molecular Detection of Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer J. Clin. Oncol., June 11, 2000; 18(11): 2193 - 2200. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
K. D. Berg, C. L. Glaser, R. E. Thompson, S. R. Hamilton, C. A. Griffin, and J. R. Eshleman Detection of Microsatellite Instability by Fluorescence Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction J. Mol. Diagn., February 1, 2000; 2(1): 20 - 28. [Abstract] [Full Text] |
||||
![]() |
P. S. Bradshaw, R. S. Houlston, R. Hamoudi, M. R. Yuille, and J. D. Potter A Proposed BAT-26 Germline Polymorphism Am. J. Pathol., February 1, 2000; 156(2): 733 - 734. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Loukola, R. Salovaara, P. Kristo, A.-L. Moisio, H. Kaariainen, H. Ahtola, M. Eskelinen, N. Harkonen, R. Julkunen, E. Kangas, et al. Microsatellite Instability in Adenomas as a Marker for Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer Am. J. Pathol., December 1, 1999; 155(6): 1849 - 1853. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |