Intra- and interindividual variability in lymphocyte chromosomal aberrations: implications for cancer risk assessment

Chromosomal aberration frequency in peripheral lymphocytes of healthy individuals has been found to be predictive of future cancer risk. The variability of chromosomal aberrations over time, which is largely unknown, should be clarified to interpret the strength of this association and to determine its use in cancer prediction. Intra- and interindividual variability in chromosomal aberration frequency was therefore determined. From a pooled database comprising 11 national cohorts (1965-2002), the authors included 9,433 blood samples from 3,550 subjects with at least one repeated chromosomal aberration measurement. The generalized concordance correlation coefficient of 0.19 was low, indicating high intraindividual variability compared with interindividual variability, resulting in a high likelihood of misclassification. The relation between chromosomal aberration frequency and future cancer risk has probably been underestimated in previous studies. A single chromosomal aberration measurement seems not to be representative of the whole lifespan level of chromosome instability and greatly limits the use of chromosomal aberration frequency-as measured with Giemsa staining-for individual risk assessment.