Abstract
Investigations of chromosomal variation in human cancer have shown that malignancy is not necessarily associated with karyotypic aberration (for example, 30% of acute lymphoblastic leukaemias show no obvious changes1) and that the vast majority of alterations that do occur are of a random nature2,3. Only a few consistent chromosomal aberrations have been cytologically associated with human cancer, most notable of which are the Philadelphia translocation of chronic myelocytic leukaemia4, a deletion in chromosome 11 in Wilm's tumour5 and a deletion in chromosome 13 in ∼2% of retinoblastomas6. It is known that highly repetitive DNA is diminished after serial passage of human diploid fibroblasts in culture7 and it is not unreasonable to suggest that loss or redistribution of genetic material could occur generally in neoplastic tissues, as proliferating tumour cells might be subjected to similar selective pressures. Here we show that, in human gastrointestinal carcinomas, the overall degeneration of DNA sequence organization as suggested by almost all cytogenetic evidence is not random and that unstable regions of the genome can be clearly distinguished from others that remain highly conserved even in advanced states of neoplasia. Quantitative assessment of such data could form the basis of an assay for early malignant transformation in gut and other human tissues.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Prigogina, E. L. et al. Hum. Genet. 53, 5–16 (1979).
Cervenka, J. & Koulischer, L. Chromosomes in Human Cancer (ed. Gorlin, R. J.) (Thomas, Springfield, 1973).
Cairns, J. Nature 289, 353–357 (1981).
Oshimura, M. & Sandberg, A. A. Cancer 40, 1149–1160 (1977).
Kolata, G. B. Science 207, 970–971 (1980).
Vogel, F. Hum. Genet. 52, 1–54 (1979).
Reis, R. J. S. & Goldstein, S. Cell 21, 739–749 (1980).
Sussenbach, J. S., Monfoort, C. H., Schipnof, R. & Stubberingh, E. E. Nucleic Acids Res. 3, 3193–3199 (1976).
Warren, G. J., Saul, M. W. & Sherratt, D. J. Molec. gen. Genet. 170, 103–108 (1979).
Ulrich, A. et al. Science 196, 1313–1319 (1977).
Gusella, J. F. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Set. U.S.A. 77, 2829–2833 (1980).
Schmid, C. W. & Deininger, P. L. Cell 6, 345–358 (1975).
Rigby, P., Dieckman, M., Rhodes, C. & Berg, P. J. molec. Biol. 113, 237–251 (1977).
Yamada, K., Takagi, N. & Sandberg, A. A. Cancer 19, 1879 (1966).
Bussey, H. J. R. Familial Polyposis Coli (John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1975).
Messinetti, S., Zelli, G. P., Marcellino, L. R. & Alcini, E. Cancer 21, 1000 (1968).
Atkin, N. B. & Baker, M. C. Br. J. Cancer 23, 329 (1969).
Southern, E. M. J. molec. Biol. 98, 503–517 (1975).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Humphries, P. Consistent molecular genetic variation in human gastrointestinal carcinomas. Nature 293, 146–148 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/293146a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/293146a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Influence of the cation on the formation of free hydrogen and formaldehyde in the thermal decomposition of formates
Journal of Thermal Analysis (1987)
-
Sequence rearrangements and genome instability
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology (1985)
-
Hypomethylation distinguishes genes of some human cancers from their normal counterparts
Nature (1983)