Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 2, 2026

Chromosome Preparation From Cultured Cells
Published on: January 28, 2014
Cytogenetic findings in phyllodes tumors of the breast: karyotypic complexity differentiates between malignant and
C U Dietrich1, N Pandis, H Rizou
1Department of Pathology, The Norwegian Radium Hospital and Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo.
Abstract:
Clonal karyotypic abnormalities were detected in short-term cell cultures from six phyllodes tumors of the breast. Whereas all five benign tumors had simple chromosomal changes, the highly malignant one had a near-triploid stemline, indicating that karyotypic complexity is a marker of malignancy in phyllodes tumors. Interstitial deletions of the short arm of chromosome 3, del(3)(p12p14) and del(3)(p21p23),were the only aberrations in two benign tumors. Cytogenetic polyclonality was detected in three benign tumors: two had cytogenetically unrelated clones, whereas the third had three different, karyotypically related cell populations as evidence of clonal evolution. The finding of clonal chromosome abnormalities in both the epithelial and connective tissue components of the phyllodes tumors indicates that they are genuinely biphasic, that is, that both components are part of the neoplastic parenchyma.
Related Concept Videos
Karyotyping
Polytene Chromosomes
Abnormal Proliferation
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
Anaphase Promoting Complex

