| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2009 | Volume
: 15
| Issue : 1 | Page : 13-18 |
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Chromosomal instability in the lymphocytes of breast cancer patients
Kaur Harsimran1, Monga Gaganpreet Kaur1, Setia Nitika1, Sudan Meena2, MS Uppal2, Yamini2, A. P. S. Batra3, Sambyal Vasudha1
1 Department of Human Genetics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab-143 005, India
2 Department of Surgery, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (SGRDIMSR), Amritsar, Punjab-143 005, India
3 Department of Anatomy, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (SGRDIMSR) Amritsar, Punjab-143 005, India
Correspondence Address:
Sambyal Vasudha
Department of Human Genetics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
India
DOI: 10.4103/0971-6866.50864 PMID: 20407644
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Genomic instability in the tumor tissue has been correlated with tumor progression. In the present study, chromosomal aberrations (CAs) in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) of breast tumor patients were studied to assess whether chromosomal instability (CIN) in PBLs correlates with aggressiveness of breast tumor (i.e., disease stage) and has any prognostic utility. Cultured blood lymphocyte metaphases were scored for aberrations in 31 breast cancer patients and 20 healthy age and sex-matched controls. A variety of CAs, including aneuploidy, polyploidy, terminal deletions, acentric fragments, double minutes, chromatid separations, ring chromosome, marker chromosome, chromatid gaps, and breaks were seen in PBLs of the patients. The CAs in patients were higher than in controls. A comparison of the frequency of metaphases with aberrations by grouping the patients according to the stage of advancement of disease did not reveal any consistent pattern of variation in lymphocytic CIN. Neither was any specific chromosomal abnormality found to be associated with the stage of cancer. This might be indicative of the fact that cancer patients have constitutional CIN, which predisposes them to the disease, and this inherent difference in the level of genomic instability might play a role in disease progression and response to treatment. |
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