Objective: To detect genetic alterations in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in Cantonese, the population with the highest incidence of NPC, and to correlate the findings with clinical staging. Methods: Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) was performed on 35 primary nasopharyngeal carcinomas and a nonparametric χ2 test was used to analyze relationship between chromosome changes and clinical staging. Results: The identified common chromosomal alterations in NPC included gain of chromosomes 12q (21 cases, 60%), 4q (19cases, 43%), 3q (18 cases, 51%), 1q (15 cases, 43%),8q (14 cases, 40%), and 2q (12 cases, 30%). The most frequently detected loss of chromosomal materials involved chromosome 1p (24 cases, 69%), chromosome 3p (21 cases, 60%), 11q (20 cases, 57%), 14q (18 cases, 51%), 16q (14 cases, 40%), 13(12 cases, 34%), and 9p(11 cases, 31%). The high frequency (>50%) 4q gain and 1p loss were novel findings. Compared by nonparametric χ2 test, gains on 12q and 8q were found mainly in stages Ⅲ/Ⅳ and there were significant differences between two clinical stage groups ( stagesⅠ/Ⅱvs stages Ⅲ/Ⅳ). Conclusions: Current analysis has revealed a comprehensive profile of the chromosomal regions showing DNA copy number changes, which may harbor oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes involved in the development of primary NPC.
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