Chromosome changes in cancer

Immense amounts of data about cancer-associated chromosome aberrations have been collected during the last 10 years, and the systematic evaluation of these data has disclosed a number of correlations between chromosome change and neoplastic disease. These results are of practical clinical significance for the evaluation of diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis; they are also of theoretical interest in cancer research and cell biology. This paper reviews the nature, occurrence, and significance of nonrandom and specific chromosome aberrations and discusses briefly the theoretical implications of these changes.