T. Tsuji et al., INCREASED POLYSOMY-3 AND POLYSOMY-17 DETECTED BY FLUORESCENCE IN-SITUHYBRIDIZATION (FISH) IN ORAL SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA, Oncology Reports, 4(2), 1997, pp. 277-280
Numerical chromosome aberrations were studied by fluorescence in situ
hybridization (FISH) using pericentromeric DNA probes specific for chr
omosomes 3 and 17 in 18 oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and 3 lym
ph nodes as control. Disomy 3 and 17 was detected in approximately 90%
of control cells, and in 60.9 +/- 4.0% and 62.7 +/- 3.6% of SCCs, res
pectively. Polysomy 3 and 17 significantly increased in SCCs when comp
ared to controls. The pattern of chromosome aberrations varied conside
rably between cases. There was no obvious relationship between the deg
ree of polysomies and clinicopathological factors such as tumor-differ
entiation, stage of the disease and clinical outcome. Chromosome aberr
ations by FISH did not correlate with DNA aneuploidy by flow cytometry
. Our results indicate that oral SCCs are more frequently associated w
ith the increased copy number of chromosomes 3 and 17 than previously
thought, and that a correlation between chromosome aberrations by FISH
and DNA aneuploidy by flow cytometry is not obvious.