Recent studies have identified a gene on chromosome 5q, designated MCC (mutated in colorectal cancers), as a candidate for the putative colorectal tumor suppressor gene that is located at 5q21. We examined loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the MCC locus and its vicinity in sporadic colorectal carcinomas, using 12 RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) markers. One clone, L5.71, had been used to identify the MCC gene; all 12 markers also had tight linkage to the gene responsible for adenomatous polyposis coli. All 40 cases studied were informative with at least one marker, and 22 of them (55%) showed LOH at one or more loci. LOH in the tumors was more frequent in the immediate vicinity of L5.71 than in distant parts of the chromosome, and a common region of deletion was detected between markers L5.62 and 15A6. In one case, alleles were retained at L5.71 and at loci proximal to L5.71, but alleles were lost at loci distal to L5.71. In another case, both alleles were retained at L5.71 but alleles were lost at loci proximal and distal to L5.71. These results support the conclusion that a tumor suppressor gene for colorectal carcinoma is located within or around locus L5.71.