Centromere spreading and centromeric aberrations in ovarian tumors

Centromere spreading (CS) of chromosomes and high occurrence of aberrations at centromeric region were observed in two papillary serous cystadenocarcinomas and one borderline papillary serous cystadenoma of the ovary. In the borderline tumor, CS of chromosome 12, trisomy of which had been reported as the sole abnomaly in benign ovarian tumors, was seen in three metaphases. It is suggested that CS may be an early event in the carcinogenesis of epithelial ovarian tumors. Centromeres of some chromosomes in tumor cells may be unstable and thus bring about premature centromere separations and breakages at centromeric regions, followed by some numerical and structural chromosomal aberrations.