Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) occurring on various chromosomes has been described in the majority of human tumors and its targets are believed to be tumor suppressor genes. Although allelic deletion of the p53 gene (over 60%) has been frequently observed in gastric cancer, as well as in other human malignancies, LOH of other tumor suppressor genes is still discrepant in gastric cancer. To our knowledge, simultaneous analysis of LOH using PCR in adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), deleted in colon cancer (DCC), and retinoblastoma susceptibility (Rb) genes has not yet been reported in sporadic gastric cancer. We examined 21 advanced gastric cancers (12 intestinal type and 9 diffuse type) for LOH at the APC, DCC, and Rb loci using PCR. Inclusion of these tumor suppressor genes in the allelic deletions was directly ascertained by performing PCR at polymorphic sites within the genes. LOH occurred in 30% of informative cases at APC, in 27% of informative cases at DCC, and in 30% of informative cases at Rb. Thirty-three percent of tumors informative at all loci (fully informative) lost heterozygosity at all three loci. There were no significant differences among histologic types in the prevalence of LOH at any locus and no correlations between losses involving APC, DCC, and Rb genes. These data suggest that inactivation of APC, DCC, and Rb is involved in the development and progression of some human gastric cancers regardless of histologic type.