Bj. Dave et al., NONRANDOM DISTRIBUTION OF MUTAGEN-INDUCED CHROMOSOME BREAKS IN LYMPHOCYTES OF PATIENTS WITH DIFFERENT MALIGNANCIES, International journal of oncology, 5(4), 1994, pp. 733-740
Data regarding specific chromosomal alterations in most solid neoplasm
s are scarce because the complex changes observed in tumor biopsies ar
e often a challenge to interpret. The present investigation using chro
mosomal banding, was designed to analyze exact regions of spontaneous
and mutagen-induced lymphocytic chromosomal breaks and investigate if
they are unique for different cancers. Tissue from three groups of ind
ividuals were included in the study, viz., normal individuals, untreat
ed head and neck cancer patients, and untreated melanoma patients. For
every individual three samples were analyzed for spontaneous, bleomyc
in (radiomimetic)-induced and 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide(4NQO) (ultravio
let rays mimetic)-induced chromosome damage. The results revealed that
in melanoma patients, chromosomes 1, 6, and 9 showed a significantly
higher number of breaks than other chromosomes. A clustering of breaks
was observed at loci 1p32, 1q32, 6p21, 6q21 and 9q11. Among the head
and neck cancer patients, a significantly larger number of breaks was
found in chromosomes 3 and 7 with clustering of breaks mainly in regio
ns 3p21, 3q21, 7q22 and 7q32. Thus, it was found that regardless of th
e mutagen used, specific chromosomes are more susceptible to breakage
than others. Our results indicate that chromosomal fragility is specif
ic for particular cancers and that challenging the cells with mutagens
reveals it at a more pronounced rate. Mutagen-induced chromosome brea
ks appear to be nonrandom affecting different chromosomes in different
cancers. Clustering of breaks that occur in specific regions of these
chromosomes might provide definite clues for molecular analysis and f
urther in-depth studies of cancer predisposed individuals.