Chromosomal approaches to the molecular basis of neoplasia

Nonrandom patterns of chromosome abnormality in tumors are providing clues to the location of oncogenes and their activation mechanisms. Studies of translocations in Burkitt's lymphoma cells have shown that the c-myc proto-oncogene is consistently juxtaposed with a rearranged and transcriptionally active immunoglobulin gene locus, with resultant myc gene deregulation. In other B cell tumors, translocations appear to bring previously unrecognized oncogenes (bcl-1, bcl-2) into similar association with the immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus. T cell receptor genes may also "activate" known and unknown oncogenes after chromosome translocation. In chronic myelogenous leukemia, the translocated c-abl oncogene forms a "hybrid" gene in its new location on the Philadelphia chromosome, with altered function. Gene amplification units, seen as cytogenetically homogeneous staining regions in chromosomes or as double-minute bodies in metaphases, can represent multiple copies of oncogenes and be important in late stages of tumor progression. Other significant alterations in gene dosage, recognized as gain or loss of all or part of a specific chromosome, also occur in human neoplasms, but their specific role in carcinogenesis is largely undefined.