Cytogenetic and flow cytometric analysis of a pancreatoblastoma

A pancreatoblastoma from a 4-year old male was examined by flow cytometric ploidy analysis and cytogenetics. To detect differences within the tumor, the specimen was divided into four portions and sampled separately. Flow analysis revealed that each sample contained a diploid and a tetraploid population of tumor cells. These findings correlated well with the cytogenetic analysis, which also revealed differences in structural rearrangements between samples. A t(13;22)(q10;q10) was the only rearrangement found in near-diploid cells as well as one near-tetraploid line. Other common structural changes in near-tetraploid cells included t(13;13)(q10;q10), i(6p)(p10), and del(1). Chromosomes 1, 6, 13, and 22 were consistently missing from all near-tetraploid cells lines. To our knowledge, this is the first flow cytometric and cytogenetic study of a pancreatoblastoma.