The breast cancer cell line DU4475 was unique in having five separate small deletions on 8p (Additional file 5), at least three of which coincided with candidate tumour suppressor genes: a deletion of the promoter of candidate tumour suppressor TUSC3 (Tumour Suppressor Candidate 3) (15.6 Mb) in 8p22, an approximately 1 Mb deletion between 21.9 Mb and 23.0 Mb in 8p21, containing candidate cancer genes RHOBTB2 (22.9 Mb) and DR5 (Death receptor 5) (23.0 Mb) [41] but not extending as far as DR4, and a deletion in 8p23.3, which emerged as a common region of loss in this study. This evidence concerns the gene RHOBTB2 and cancer.