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Tumor suppressor genes have been found to have loss of function in a number of malignancies. This loss of function is believed to contribute to malignant transformation or metastatic spread. In the present study, expression of the retinoblastoma (RB) tumor suppressor gene was examined in cell lines and tumor tissue obtained from primary renal and metastatic sites in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Three of fifteen (20 percent) of informative renal carcinoma cell lines had loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in the RB gene (intron 20) detected by polymerase chain reaction analysis. Using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, 7 of 22 (32 percent) informative cell lines had LOH centromeric to the RB gene at the D13S1 locus. No LOH (0 of 7) was seen telomeric to the RB gene at the D13S2 locus. None of the 28 cell lines examined had decreased RB mRNA expression compared with short-term cultures of proximal renal tubular cells. Western blotting demonstrated phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms of RB protein of expected molecular weight in all 41 cell lines (33 primary and 8 metastatic) examined. Twenty-nine primary cell lines and 6 metastatic cell lines all demonstrated normal immunohistochemical staining. Loss of RB immunohistochemical staining in paraffin-embedded tissue was detected in none of the primary tumors (0 of 30) or metastatic tumors (0 of 12). The absence of abnormalities of RB expression detected in these renal cell carcinomas suggests that abnormalities of the RB gene are not central to malignant transformation or progression in this tumor type; however, another tumor suppressor gene centromeric to the RB locus may be important in renal cell carcinogenesis.