TRANSLOCATION (3-3)(P14-Q29) AS THE PRIMARY CHROMOSOME ABNORMALITY INA PERITONEAL MESOTHELIOMA

Mesothelioma is a relatively rare malignant neoplasm arising from the serosal lining of the pleural, peritoneal, and pericardial cavities. M esotheliomas are known to be associated with asbestos exposure. The ka ryotypes of these rumors have mostly been so complex as to preclude th e identification of primary chromosome abnormalities. We present the c ytogenetic analysis of two macroscopically distinct abdominal tumors, both diagnosed as peritoneal mesothelioma, occurring in a woman with a history of heavy asbestos exposure. Both tumors contained the same th ree karyotypically abnormal but cytogenetically related clones, with a balanced t(3;3)(p14;q29) as the primary chromosomal change. The fact that several chromosome abnormalities were common to both tumors stron gly indicates that they arose through intraperitoneal spreading of a s ingle neoplastic process; that is, they were not pathogenetically inde pendent lesions. Our findings, taken together with previously publishe d cytogenetic data on peritoneal mesotheliomas, indicate that a propor tion of these tumors may be characterized by simple, balanced chromoso mal rearrangements. At least a subset of peritoneal mesotheliomas aris es through the same pathogenetic mechanisms that are involved in the p leural forms of this disease. (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 1998.