title: Constitutive heterochromatin studies in patients with solid tumors.
abstract: Constitutive heterochromatin of chromosomes 1, 9, and 16 was studied in 101 patients with solid tumors and 85 controls. Lymphocyte cultures were used for performing C-banded chromosome preparations. Two homologous chromosomes were regarded as heteromorphic when there was a 25% difference between their C-band size or when they fell into different classes according to the method of Patil and Lubs (1977). A statistically significant difference between patients and controls was found in chromosome 1 heteromorphism. No statistical difference between patients and controls was found in the heteromorphism of chromosomes 9 and 16. The frequencies with which pericentric inversions of the heterochromatin in chromosomes 1 and 9 occurred in cancer patients were 9.9% and 12.9%, respectively. Patients displaying this type of polymorphism usually showed an increased rate of chromosome associations. The most frequent associations were found between heterochromatic regions of chromosomes 1 and 9 and between the chromosome 9 heterochromatin and D acrocentrics. These results support the hypothesis concerning the involvement of constitutive heterochromatin of chromosome 1 in malignant disease.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002871:Chromosome Banding; D002900:Chromosomes, Human, 1-3; D002902:Chromosomes, Human, 16-18; D002906:Chromosomes, Human, 6-12 and X; D005260:Female; D006570:Heterochromatin; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D006570:Heterochromatin