The recurrent chromosomal translocation t(12;18)(q14~15;q12~21) causes the fusion gene HMGA2-SETBP1 and HMGA2 expression in lipoma and osteochondrolipoma.
In the context of an ongoing research program aiming at the elucidation of the functional consequences of HMGIC translocations in the etiology of lipomas, we have isolated a novel human gene, LHFP (lipoma HMGIC fusion partner), that acts as a translocation partner of HMGIC in a lipoma with t(12;13).
The similarity with lipoma could be documented further in case 2, in which epithelial and mesenchymal cells were cultured separately; the t(12;16) was present in the latter but not in the former.
The cytogenetic profiles of leiomyoma and lipoma are strikingly similar; both tumor types have nonrandom rearrangements of 12q13-15, t(12;14) in leiomyoma and t(3;12) in lipoma, as well as variant rearrangements of the same 12q segment.