BACKGROUND It is well known that oligodendrogliomas can be divided into two groups according to the 1p/19q or 1p loss of heterozygosity (LOH) status because oligodendrogliomas with the 1p/19q LOH or the 1p LOH have a better prognosis and chemosensitivity. In this study, we investigated the adequate microsatellite markers for 1p/19q LOH of oligodendroglial tumors in Korean patients. METHODS We performed PCR that was based on the LOH test with the 1p (D1S508, D1S199, D1S2734, D1S186 & D1S312) and 19q (D19S219, D19S112, D19S412 & D19S596) microsatellite markers; these were the markers that were recommended by other researchers. We performed this PCR on microdissected paraffin embedded tissue blocks of 67 tumors from 56 cases. RESULTS The PCR based LOH analysis revealed that 3 microsatellite markers (D1S508, D1S2734 & D1S186) of 1p and 2 markers (D19S219 & D19S412) of 19q had higher heterozygosity scores than other markers. In addition, chromosomal LOH status using these selective markers showed a statistically significant difference of prognosis for oligodendroglial tumors. CONCLUSIONS We can suggest that the microsatellite markers with high heterozygosity scores (D1S508, D1S2734, D1S186, D19S219 and D19S412) would be adequate microsatellite markers for a PCR based LOH test of oligodendroglial tumors in Korean patients.