Amplification of the topoisomerase ii α gene in a non‐small cell lung cancer cell line and characterisation of polymorphisms at the human topoisomerase ii α and β loci in normal tissue

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Abstract
DNA was prepared from normal tissue and 19 lung cancer cell lines. Using probes which detect restriction fragment length polymorphisms at both the topoisomerase II α and β loci, heterozygosity was detected at a frequency of 0.17 and 0.37 for the α and β loci, respectively. Southern blot analysis of DNA extracted from lung cancer cell lines detected amplification of both the topoisomerase II α and ERBB2 genes in the adenocarcinoma line Calu3. These results indicate that topoisomerase II α and ERBB2 may be closely linked on chromosome 17 and coamplified during adenocarcinoma progression. Since topoisomerase II is a target for several anticancer drugs, it will be of interest to study alterations to topoisomerase II genes during tumour development, as these may in part determine the response of the tumour to chemotherapy.