Open AccessDifferent chromosome damage in lymphocytes of newly diagnosed gastrointestinal and breast cancer patients
Author(s) -
Dita Kadlčíková,
Petra Musilová,
Hana Hradská,
Markéta Petrovová,
Iveta Selingerová,
Miluše Vozdová,
Marek Svoboda,
Jiřı́ Rubeš
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
neoplasma
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1338-4317
pISSN - 0028-2685
DOI - 10.4149/neo_2020_190604n485
Subject(s) - dicentric chromosome , breast cancer , chromosomal translocation , fluorescence in situ hybridization , cancer , chromosome , gastrointestinal cancer , biology , aneuploidy , chromosome instability , pathology , medicine , cancer research , oncology , genetics , karyotype , colorectal cancer , gene
Structural chromosome aberrations are a predictive biomarker of cancer risk. Conventional chromosome analysis widely used for these purposes detects unstable chromosome aberrations that are eliminated during cell division. Stable aberrations that may persist in the body and tend to accumulate during a lifetime can be detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The aim of the study was to investigate the level of chromosome damage in newly diagnosed cancer patients and control subjects by FISH. Both groups of untreated cancer patients had increased frequency of aberrant cells. However, chromosome damage affected different cytogenetic endpoints. Stable translocations and cells with complex rearrangements were elevated in breast cancer patients whereas unstable chromosome aberrations (dicentric chromosomes and acentric fragments) were elevated in gastrointestinal cancer patients. These associations observed in nonsmokers were typically not pronounced in smokers (with the exception of dicentric chromosomes in gastrointestinal patients). Exposure to tobacco smoke increased aberrations in healthy controls but not in the cancer patients. Our study suggests an association between cancer and stable chromosomal rearrangements in breast cancer patients. Unstable aberrations elevated in gastrointestinal cancer patients may be at least partly ascribed to the exposure to diagnostic X-rays.