Numerical chromosome aberrations in human neoplasia

Cases with a simple gain or loss of one chromosome as the sole cytogenetic change were retrieved from a computerized registry of chromosome aberrations in human neoplasms. Of the total of 5345 cases in the data bank, 610 met the criteria. The distribution of both simple gains (349 cases) and simple losses (261 cases) throughout the genome was distinctly nonrandom. Chromosomes #8, #9, #12, and #21 were more often trisomic, whereas, chromosomes #7, #22, and Y were the ones most often lost. The frequency of simple aberrations varied widely in different diseases: 29.6% in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 24.2% in meningioma, 16.9% in polycythemia vera, 8.1% in acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, 4.2% in acute lymphocytic leukemia, and 1.4% in non-Hodgkin non-Burkitt lymphoma. The numerical changes have been correlated and compared with the specific structural rearrangements in cancer, and tentative pathogenetic mechanisms whereby numerical aberrations might enhance neoplastic development are discussed.