A Large Deletion in the Succinate Dehydrogenase B Gene (SDHB) in a Japanese Patient with Abdominal Paraganglioma and Concomitant Metastasis

Recently, mutations in nuclear genes encoding two mitochondrial complex 11 subunit proteins, succinate dehydrogenase D (SDHD) and SDHB, have been found to be associated with the development of familial pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (hereditary pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma syndrome: HPPS). Growing evidence suggests that the mutation of SDHB is highly associated with abdominal paraganglioma and the following distant metastasis (malignant paraganglioma). In the present study, we used multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification (MLPA) analysis to identify a large heterozygous SDHB gene deletion encompassing sequences corresponding to the promoter region, in addition to exon 1 and exon 2, in a malignant paraganglioma patient in whom previously characterized SDHB mutations were undetectable. This is the first Japanese case report of malignant paraganglioma, with a large SDHB deletion. Our present findings strongly support the notion that large deletions in the SDHB gene should be considered in patients lacking characterized SDHB mutations.