Research in the relationship between chromosome 3p21.3, tumor suppressor gene BLU and nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Human chromosome 3p21.3 was confirmed to be a tumor suppressor gene (TSG) cluster that contains several TSGs associated with the development of many human tumors, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC). BLU was one of TSGs mapped in this region and has been repeatedly reported to be involved in the development of NPC and many other tumors. The expression of BLU is frequently down regulated in NPC and many other tumors due to promoter hypermethylation. Functional evidence shows that the BLU gene inhibits tumor growth in animal assays, but the detailed molecular mechanism responsible for this is still not well understood. In this paper, the related literatures and research reports in recent years were reviewed. Key words: Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms; Chromosomes; tumor supressor genes