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Clinical significance of cytogenetic abnormalities in uterine myomas
Objective:
To investigate the clinical characteristics of uterine myomas with cytogenetic rearrangements.
Design:
Comparative study of myomas with normal and abnormal karyotype.
Setting:
University hospital.
Patients:
Premenopausal, GnRH-agonist (GnRH-a) treated and menopausal patients.
Interventions:
Myomectomy or hysterectomy.
Main Outcome Measures:
Karyotype analysis and clinical characteristics.
Results:
Clonal abnormalities occurred in 29% of uterine myomas but were not related to the age of the patient or, in untreated menopausal patients, to the size of the myoma. In GnRH-a treated and menopausal women, 48% of the myomas larger than 4 cm were associated with clonal abnormalities. Submucous myomas had significantly fewer clonal abnormalities (12%) than subserosal (29%) or intramural myomas (35%).
Conclusions:
The data support the hypothesis that cytogenetic rearrangements in uterine myomas are associated with loss of steroid hormones dependency and alter the growth potential of the tumor.