Genetic and epigenetic changes of FHIT gene in patients with esophageal cancer

Deletions in the fifth and the eighth exons of FHIT gene were detected using intragenic microsatellites D3s1540 and D3s1234 in the patients with esophageal cancer. Samples were provided from 17 males and 5 females, residents of province Hebei, China. Homozygotic deletions in the fifth or eighth exon were detected in 16 patients. Hypermethylation in FHIT gene was found in healthy tissue of only one patient while in 17 patients it appeared in the cancerous tissues. Homozygosis of FHIT gene that was made by deletion or methylation had been found in all the cancerous tissues of the studied patients.

Keywords: esophageal cancer, FHIT gene, deletions, hypermethylation