By comparative genome analysis, we showed that a common feature of tumors arising in ErbB2/mutant p53 mice (p53-null allele with or without p53-172H) is a loss of chromosome 4, a feature of many epithelial tumors in mice and one that is consistent with a role for loss of INK4a/ARF in such tumors.
We conclude that inactivation of p16, by loss of p16 mRNA and protein expression as a consequence of hypermethylation of the 5'-CpG island, rather than by gene deletion or point mutation, may play an important role in the genesis of human ovarian epithelial tumors.