Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is an autosomal dominant hereditary disorder associated with mutations of the MEN1 gene, which is characterized by combined tumors of the parathyroid glands, pancreatic islet cells, and the anterior pituitary. A significant number of patients with the clinical features of MEN1, however, do not show MEN1 mutations upon direct sequencing. We describe a young woman who fulfilled the clinical and biochemical criteria for MEN1 syndrome, but DNA sequencing did not indicate any MEN1 mutations. She developed a prolactin-secreting pituitary macroadenoma, primary hyperparathyroidism with parathyroid hyperplasia, pancreatic lesions, and two subcutaneous lipomas. Array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) analysis of peripheral blood DNA revealed a heterozygous germline deletion at 11q13.1 that spanned at least 22.23 kilobases and contained the entire MEN1 gene. Integrated aCGH and cytogenetic analyses of the adenoma and lipoma tissues revealed somatic inactivation of the wild-type MEN1 allele by different routes: the second hit of MEN1 recessive oncogenesis leading to adenoma implied a loss of heterozygosity, whereas a balanced translocation deleting the wild-type MEN1 allele primed the lipoma development. These findings show that aCGH is a valuable means of optimizing genetic testing in MEN1 patients which complements other technologic approaches to elucidating the pathologic mechanisms of MEN1 tumors. Keywords FISH, aCGH, MEN1, pituitary adenoma, lipoma ª 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is a rare autosomal dominant monogenic disorder with 95% penetrance that occurs in approximately 1/30,000 people and has an equal gender distribution (1e3). It is characterized by the development of parathyroid adenomas (90e97%), pituitary adenomas (15e50%), and duodenal and/or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (30e80%) (4,5). In addition to these major lesions, patients may develop adrenal or thyroid adenomas, bronchial or thymic carcinoid tumors, and (albeit less frequently) various non-endocrine tumors such as lipomas, angiofibromas, collagenomas, and leiomyomas (6,7). The clinical diagnosis is based on the presence of at least two of the three main MEN1-related tumors (8,9), and there are reports of both sporadic (de novo) and familial forms. Familial MEN1 is diagnosed in the setting of a MEN1 case and a first-degree relative with at least one of the main MEN1-related tumors; sporadic MEN1 when there is no family history of MEN1-related tumors (10).The MEN1 causative gene (11) has 10 exons and encodes a 610 amino acid protein known as menin, a ubiquitously expressed nuclear protein that interacts with a number of the proteins (12,13) involved in transcriptional regulation, genome stability, and cell division and proliferation (14,15). MEN1 acts as a tumor suppressor in accordance with the "two-hit" model of hereditary cancer postulated by Knudson: