We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




Statistical Study Characterizes Patterns of Cancer Chromosome Aneuploidy

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 07 Feb 2012
Print article
A large statistical study of cancer genome karyotypes has revealed a pattern linking gain or loss of chromosomes (aneuploidy) in more than 60 different classes of the disease.

Chromosomal aneuploidy is the most common abnormality in cancer. While certain aberrations, most commonly translocations, are known to be strongly associated with specific cancers and contribute to their formation, most aberrations appear to be nonspecific and arbitrary, and do not have a clear effect. The understanding of chromosomal aneuploidy and its role in tumorigenesis is a fundamental open problem in cancer biology.

Loss or gain of chromosomes is usual detrimental or fatal to an organism. Yet, most cancers thrive with bizarre alterations of chromosome number. To understand this phenomenon better, investigators at Tel Aviv University (Israel) systematically studied the characteristics of chromosomal aberrations in over 15,000 cancer karyotypes over 62 cancer classes.

Results published in the June 29, 2011, online edition of the journal Genome Biology revealed a very high co-occurrence rate of chromosome gains with other chromosome gains, and of losses with losses. Gains and losses rarely showed significant co-occurrence. This finding was consistent across cancer classes and was confirmed on an independent comparative genomic hybridization dataset of cancer samples.

“In cancer, there are many cases of extra or missing chromosomes. Yet cancer cells thrive more effectively than other cells,” said senior author Dr. Ron Shamir, professor of computer science at the University of Tel Aviv. “Hopefully future investigation into these chromosomal aberrations will give researchers more clues into why something that is so detrimental to our healthy development is so beneficial to this disease. Cancer is the result of sequences of events, each causing the genome to become more mutated, mixed, and duplicated. Tracking these changes could aid our understanding of the driving forces of cancer's progress.”

Related Links:
Tel Aviv University




Gold Member
Veterinary Hematology Analyzer
Exigo H400
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Silver Member
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Bordetella Pertussis Molecular Assay
Alethia Pertussis

Print article

Channels

Molecular Diagnostics

view channel
Image: Researcher Kanta Horie places a sample in a mass spectrometer that measures protein levels in blood plasma and other fluids (Photo courtesy of WashU Medicine)

Highly Accurate Blood Test Diagnoses Alzheimer’s and Measures Dementia Progression

Several blood tests are currently available to assist doctors in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease in individuals experiencing cognitive symptoms. However, these tests do not provide insights into the clinical... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The findings were based on patients from the ADAURA clinical trial of the targeted therapy osimertinib for patients with NSCLC with EGFR-activated mutations (Photo courtesy of YSM Multimedia Team)

Post-Treatment Blood Test Could Inform Future Cancer Therapy Decisions

In the ongoing advancement of personalized medicine, a new study has provided evidence supporting the use of a tool that detects cancer-derived molecules in the blood of lung cancer patients years after... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: Schematic representation illustrating the key findings of the study (Photo courtesy of UNIST)

Breakthrough Diagnostic Technology Identifies Bacterial Infections with Almost 100% Accuracy within Three Hours

Rapid and precise identification of pathogenic microbes in patient samples is essential for the effective treatment of acute infectious diseases, such as sepsis. The fluorescence in situ hybridization... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.