First hints for a correlation between amplification of the Int-2 gene and infection with human papillomavirus in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.
In order to control the data obtained by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) on DNA sequence copy number amplifications, 20 oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) were subjected to interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (I-FISH) examination using specific DNA probes for the oncogenes int2 and erbB-2, and the corresponding centromeric probes of chromosomes 11 and 17.
Amplified region of chromosome band 11q13 in breast and squamous cell carcinomas encompasses three CpG islands telomeric of FGF3, including the expressed gene EMS1.
The results indicate that int-2 is frequently amplified in SCC of the head and neck and suggest that int-2 amplification may correlate with clinical disease progression.