Accumulation of mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes transforms a normal cell into a malignant cell by allowing it to escape from normal control of growth. In prostate tumorigenesis, the current model envisages specific mutations of the TP53 tumor suppressor gene and loss of loci, detected by loss of heterozygosity (LOH), on chromosome arms 8p, 10q, 16q, and 18q. In order to determine if alterations frequently found in other adenocarcinomas (breast, ovarian, gastric, colorectal), including losses of genetic material from chromosome arms 1p, 3p, 7q, 8p, 11p, 17p, 17q, and 18q, are also involved in prostate cancer, we examined 20 localized early-stage prostate tumors. We detected no mutations of the TP53 gene. Allelic losses were found from 7q (33%), 8p (50%), 10q (20%), and 18q (33%). Furthermore, as the first step toward isolating tumor suppressor genes on 18q, we used six polymorphic markers and identified a small common deleted region between the chromosome 18 centromere and the D18S19 locus.