No abstract

Consistent tumor‐specific chromosomal aberrations have not been described in low‐grade astrocytic tumors. The most frequent genetic alterations are mutations of the TP53 tumor suppressor gene and/or loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on 17p that occur in about 30% of the cases in adult patients but that are uncommon in childhood tumors. We used comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) to map DNA copy number alterations in 18 primary low‐grade astrocytic tumors (ten adult patients and eight children). A gain of chromosome arm 7q was the most frequent event detected in five of ten astrocytomas (50%) from adult patients, followed by DNA amplification on chromosome arm 8q and gain on 12p (two cases). Loss of chromosomal regions on 1p, 4q, and the X chromosome was observed in two of ten cases each [including one patient afflicted with Turner syndrome (45,X)]. In contrast, no consistent changes were observed in low‐grade astrocytomas in children. A loss of the X chromosome was the sole aberration detected in two of eight cases using DNA extracted from normal brain tissue. The findings suggest that a gain of 7q is an early event in the initiation of astrocytomas in adult patients. The discrepant findings in low‐grade astrocytic tumors in adults compared to tumors in children support the hypothesis that there might be different mechanisms responsible for tumor development. Genes Chromosom Cancer 15:199–205 (1996). © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

No abstract

Seven patients are described who have some or all of the symptoms of Prader-Willi syndrome. They were ascertained by varying criteria starting either from the clinical picture or from the identification of a chromosome abnormality involving the proximal portion of the long arm of chromosome 15. The chromosome abnormalities consisted of two balanced translocations (15;18 and 8;15), three unbalanced ones (15;18, 15;19, and 9;15), and one interstitial deletion of bands 15q11 and q12. The seventh case had an unidentified extra chromosome. These data and a review of the literature led to the conclusion that deficiency, transposition, and even duplication of the region(s) 15q11-q13 may all result in a syndrome which is identifiable with or similar to the Prader-Willi syndrome.