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S Heim

Publications and source records attributed to S Heim.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Improved technique for short-term culture and cytogenetic analysis of human breast cancer.

Various growth media and procedures for tissue disaggregation and culturing were tested with regard to cell attachment, the type of cells to grow out, and the emergence of cytogenetically abnormal clones in cultures of 20 primary breast carcinomas. Clonal chromosome abnormalities were detected in 16 cases (80%). Our findings allow us to suggest a series of modifications of existing culturing and chromosome preparation techniques for breast cancer cytogenetic analysis. The improvements include: (1) combined mechanical and enzymatic disaggregation of the tumor samples, (2) initiation of short-term cultures in plastic flasks that have a Primaria-modified tissue culture surface or have been coated with Vitrogen 100, (3) use of serum-free growth medium, CDM-5, but with temporary (24 hours) enrichment with 20% FBS if rapid cell attachment is not achieved, (4) partial and sequential harvesting of the cultures, and (5) use of minimal volumes of hypotonic and fixative solutions during harvesting.

Aneuploidy↗
PubMed1992

Quantitative acute leukemia cytogenetics.

Using literature data on cytogenetic abnormalities in 3,612 cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 1,551-cases of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), we have attempted to quantify the information value of finding the typical ALL- and AML-associated chromosome aberrations. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of finding or not finding a given aberration were calculated for several diagnostic scenarios: for the differential diagnosis between ALL and AML when the patient is known to have acute leukemia, for the differential diagnosis among AML FAB subtypes in a patient with known AML, and for the differential diagnosis between ALL FAB subtypes in a patient with known ALL. The specificities were generally high, close to 1. The highest sensitivities in AML were found for +8, t(15;17)(q22;q11), t(8;21)(q22;q22), and -7 (all greater than 0.1), and in ALL for t(9;22)(q34;q11), t(4;11)(q21;q23), and +21 (again all greater than 0.1). In the AML subtypes, the highest sensitivities were 0.89 for t(15;17)(q22;q11) in M3, followed by 0.40 for t(8;21)(q22;q22) in M2, 0.30 for inv(16)(p13q22)/del(16)(q22)/t(16;16)(p13;q22) in M4, and 0.16 for t(9;11)(p21;q23) in M5. In the ALL subtypes, the highest sensitivities were 0.71 and 0.11 for t(8;14)(q24;q32) and t(8;22)(q24;q11), respectively, in L3, 0.23 for t(9;22)(q34;q11) in L2, and 0.18 and 0.13 for +21 and t(4;11)(q21;q23), respectively, in L1. The highest (1.0) positive predictive values in the AML versus ALL comparison were found for t(1;3)(p36;q21), inv(3)(q21q26), t(6;9)(p23;q34), t(7;11)(p15;p15), t(8;16)(p11;p13), t(8;21)(q22;q22), t(15;17)(q22;q11), and, as sole anomalies, for +4, +9, and +11. In the reverse comparison, ALL versus AML, positive predictive values of 1.0 were found for t(1;14)(p32-34;q11), dup(I)(q12-21q31-32), t(2;8)(p12;q24), t(8;14)(q24;q32), t/dic(9;12)(p11-12;p11-13), t(10;14)(q24;q11), and t(11;14)(p13;q11). Among the AML subgroups, the highest predictive values were: 1.0 for M3 if t(15;17), 0.91 for M2 if t(8;21), 0.86 for M4 if inv/del(16)/t(16;16), and 0.82 for M5 if t(9;11). Among the ALL subtypes, positive predictive values of greater than 0.8 were reached only for the L3-associated aberrations t(2;8) (1.0), t(8;14) (0.95), t(8;22) (0.87), and dup(I) (0.80). The highest negative predictive values were in AML 0.98 that the disease is not M3 if t(15;17) is not found, and in ALL 0.96 that the patient does not have L3 if a t(8;14) is not detected.

Chromosome Aberrations↗
PubMed1992

Identification of a whole-arm translocation by in situ hybridization with directly fluorochrome-labeled probes in a myelodysplastic syndrome.

A case of myelodysplasia was found to have a complex bone marrow karyotype, involving an apparent whole-arm translocation between 17q and 18q. The application of a simplified fluorescence in situ hybridization technique, using directly fluorochrome-labeled centromere-specific alpha-satellite DNA probes, demonstrated the presence of sequences from both chromosomes 17 and 18 in the centromere of the derivative chromosome. This proves that a true whole-arm translocation had occurred. The case exemplifies how in situ hybridization analysis can be used to resolve interpretation problems in cancer cytogenetics.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Is cancer cytogenetics reducible to the molecular genetics of cancer cells?

Whether cancer cytogenetics can be reduced to the molecular genetics of cancer cells is a question that must be addressed in three domains, focusing on its ontological, methodological, and epistemological dimensions. The possibility of ontological reduction hinges on whether chromosomes have other important constituents than molecules. Although this must obviously be answered in the negative, it should be emphasized that both cytogenetic and recombinant DNA investigations provide us with very selective pictures of genomic organization. This is of concern because the higher order packing of DNA and its joining with other molecules to form chromosomal structures give rise to emergent properties, functional features that become manifest only at higher levels of complexity and that may not be deducible from the base pair composition of the DNA. A position of extreme methodological reductionism would in our context be that the best research strategy is always to investigate the genetic changes of tumor cells at the highest possible resolution level, as alterations of genes and, ultimately, as changes in DNA primary structure. There are two fundamental differences between cytogenetic and molecular genetic techniques that make this stance untenable. First, whereas cytogenetic investigations are open-framed (all chromosome aberrations are revealed), molecular genetic analyses are highly specific (only those aberrations are revealed that one tests for). Second, whereas the molecular approach determines the genotypic constitution of an idealized, average tumor cell, cytogenetic analysis is of real, individual cells. These may not necessarily be representative of the main population of the tumor, but at least whatever karyotypic differences exist between them are detected. Heterogeneity and clonal evolution within the tumor can thereby be assessed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chromosome Aberrations↗
PubMed1992

Whole-arm t(1;16) and i(1q) as sole anomalies identify gain of 1q as a primary chromosomal abnormality in breast cancer.

Cytogenetic analysis of four ductal breast carcinomas revealed net gain of 1q in all tumors. In the first tumor, the only change was that one chromosome 16 was replaced by a derivative chromosome consisting of 16p and 1q. The same unbalanced whole-arm translocation was also found in the second tumor, as the only aberration in one of four abnormal clones. In the last two cases, which also were characterized by cytogenetically unrelated clones, an extra i(1q) was present in one clone in both tumors as the sole aberration. Our findings suggest that gain of 1q is a primary chromosomal abnormality in breast carcinomas, in the sense that it is an early event that precedes the acquisition of more complex changes.

Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous↗
PubMed1992

Rearrangement of the transcription factor gene CHOP in myxoid liposarcomas with t(12;16)(q13;p11).

Most myxoid liposarcomas (MLS) are characterized cytogenetically by a t(12;16)(q13;p11). It is reasonable to assume that this translocation corresponds to the consistent rearrangement of one or two genes in 12q13 and/or 16p11, and that the loci thus affected are important in the normal control of fat cell differentiation and proliferation. We have used Southern blot technique to test whether a gene of the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) family, CHOP, which maps to 12q13 and is assumed to be involved in adipocyte differentiation, could be the 12q gene in question. Using a cDNA probe that spans the CHOP coding region, we detected one rearranged and one wild type allele in nine of nine MLS with t(12;16). Using PCR generated, site-specific probes corresponding to the non-coding exons 1 and 2 and intron 2 of CHOP, rearrangements in five of seven tumors mapped to the 2.4 and 1.6 kbp PstI fragments that contain the first two exons and introns of the gene and the upstream promoter region. In contrast to the findings in MLS, no tumor without a t(12;16) exhibited aberrant CHOP restriction digest patterns. These tumors included one highly differentiated liposarcoma with abnormal karyotype but no involvement of 12q13, seven lipomas with various cytogenetic aberrations of 12q13-15, two uterine leiomyomas with t(12;14) (q14-15;q23-24), and one hemangiopericytoma and one chondroma, both of which also had 12q13 changes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Cytogenetic findings in primary and secondary MDS.

More than 1300 MDS cases with clonal cytogenetic abnormalities, 200 of them secondary MDS, have been reported. The most common aberrations in primary MDS are del(5q) (27%), trisomy 8 (19%), monosomy 7 (15%), der(11q) (7%), -5, der(12p) and -Y (5%), del(7q) (4%), and t(1;7), der(3q), del(13q), i(17q) and del(20q) in 2% or less. The 5q- is mostly, but not always, a del(5)(q13q33); it is the cytogenetic hall-mark of the "5q- syndrome" and is frequently found as the sole abnormality. The frequency of the aberrations varies among MDS subgroups: 5q- is most frequent in RA, -5, -7, and der(12p) are more common in CMML and especially in RAEB, and +8 and der(11q) are more often found in RARS. The most common aberrations in secondary MDS are -7 (41%), del(5q) (28%), -5 (11%), der(21q) (9%), 7q-, +8 and der(12p) (8%), t(1;7) and -12 (7%), der(17p) (6%), der(3p) and der(6p) (5%), and der(3q), der(11q), -17, -18 and der(19q) (4%). The average number of abnormalities per case is 5.3, compared with 2.9 in unspecified MDS. The frequency of cytogenetically unrelated clones is 5.7% in secondary and 4.3% in primary MDS. When the literature data are broken down by type of genotoxic exposure, it turns out that -5, -7, and der(17p) are over-represented in patients who have received chemotherapy, whereas 5q- is associated with no exposure or preceding radiotherapy only. The karyotypic profile is prognostically important: patients with -7 or complex karyotypes have a higher risk of progression to acute leukemia and shorter survival.

Chromosome Aberrations↗
PubMed1992

Near-haploid clones in a malignant fibrous histiocytoma.

Near-haploid solid tumors are very rare. In a storiform-pleomorphic malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) of bone, we found three cell populations: one with a near-haploid, a second with a near-diploid, and a third with a near-tetraploid chromosome number. The near-haploid cells had few structural rearrangements: i(12p) and t(13q21q) in one clone, and these two and an additional t(19;?)(p11;?) in another clone. One structurally normal copy of all chromosomes was also present, except that the only chromosome 13 was involved in the t(13q21q). There were also two near-diploid clones, one without the t(19;?) and one with a single copy of this derivative chromosome. This is the first tumor with i(12p) among bone and soft tissue tumors.

Chromosome Inversion↗
PubMed1992

Supernumerary ring chromosomes in five bone and soft tissue tumors of low or borderline malignancy.

Five tumors (two myxoid malignant fibrous histiocytoma, two dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, and one parosteal osteosarcoma) with ring chromosomes as the sole cytogenetic anomaly or as the only structural rearrangement were observed in a series of 60 karyotypically abnormal, nonlipogenic bone and soft tissue tumors (BST). All five tumors were of borderline or low malignancy. These findings support the suggestion that supernumerary ring chromosomes as the sole structural chromosomal aberration are not associated with any particular histopathologic diagnosis but may characterize a group of BST of borderline or low malignancy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma with 100 chromosomes but no structural aberrations.

An embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma was analyzed cytogenetically after short-term culturing. The tumor was located in the scrotum of an 18-year-old man who, at the age of 4, had been treated for a rhabdomyosarcoma in the orbita. The chromosome number was 100. No structural aberrations were present. There were 2-7 copies of each chromosome type with particular excess of chromosomes 8, 12, and 22, and a relative deficit of chromosome 15.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Recurrent chromosome aberrations in abdominal smooth muscle tumors.

Short-term cultures of four abdominal smooth muscle tumors, three leiomyosarcomas and one leiomyoma, were analyzed cytogenetically. A low-grade malignant, epithelioid leiomyosarcoma had a normal karyotype. The other two leiomyosarcomas had abnormal karyotypes; one was near-diploid, and the other was near-triploid. Structural rearrangements of the short arm of chromosome 16 and monosomies of chromosomes 14, 15, and 22 were observed in both tumors. When our cases and previously published abdominal leiomyosarcomas are viewed in conjunction, loss of chromosomes 14, 15, and 22 are the most frequent abnormalities. The leiomyoma, the second cytogenetically abnormal nonuterine leiomyoma reported to date, had a hyperdiploid karyotype with a chromosome number of 56 and structural rearrangements of chromosomes 9, 14, and 19. The only aberrations similar to those observed in the previously reported esophageal leiomyoma were trisomies of chromosomes 7 and 8.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗
PubMed1992

Cytogenetic findings in three primary hepatocellular carcinomas.

Short-term cultures of three primary hepatocellular carcinomas were cytogenetically analyzed. Case 1 displayed a normal karyotype. Case 2 had, in addition to cells with a normal male chromosome complement, a clone with -Y. In case 3, two abnormal clones were found, one with -Y and one with a highly aberrant karyotype: [formula: see text] Our results, collated with the findings in one previously published primary hepatocellular carcinoma and in three cell lines, suggest that structural changes of chromosomes 1 and 6, leading to loss of 1p and 6q material, and loss of chromosome 16 are frequent events in hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Acute myelomonocytic leukemia with inv(16)(p13q22) complicating Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

The reciprocal translocation (9;22)(q34;q11) is highly characteristic of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and the pericentric inversion inv(16)(p13q22) is almost only found in acute nonlymphocytic leukemia of the myelomonocytic subtype (ANLL M4). Only twice before have an inv(16) and a t(9;22) been found in the same cells, and both times the patients seemed to have de novo ANLL M4. We describe the case of a 21-year-old man who in July 1986 presented with a clinically and hematologically classic chronic phase CML. Treatment with busulfan led to no improvement; instead in September 1986 he developed blast crisis with ANLL M4Eo morphology. He was now cytogenetically examined and the karyotype 45,X,-Y,t(9;22)(q34;q11),inv(16)(p13q22) was found. Southern blot analysis of the bone marrow DNA sampled at this time revealed a standard rearrangement in the 3' end of the M-bcr. Intensive cytostatic treatment caused cytopenia followed by complete hematologic, clinical, and cytogenetic reversal to chronic phase CML, so that in January 1987 the bone marrow karyotype was 46,XY,t(9;22)(q34;q11). Persistent splenomegaly was treated with splenectomy, and a chloroma of the skin was removed by irradiation. In March 1987 he received an allogeneic bone marrow transplant. Since then his only medical problem has been mild graft-versus-host disease; he is well and is working full time as a blacksmith.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Supernumerary ring marker chromosome as a secondary rearrangement in a parapharyngeal lipoma with t(10;12)(q25;q15) as the primary karyotypic abnormality.

Cytogenetic analysis of a large parapharyngeal lipoma, a rare tumor at this site, showed the karyotype 46,XY,t(10;12)(q25;q15)/47,XY,t(10;12)(q25;q15),+r. The primary abnormality must have been t(10;12), whereas the +r developed secondarily as an additional aberration. Although a similar translocation between chromosomes 10 and 12 has not been described previously, that the tumor had a rearrangement of the 12q13-15 region, the most frequently involved genomic region in lipogenic tumors, indicates that the tumorigenetic mechanisms are identical in parapharyngeal lipomas and lipomas of other locations. Supernumerary ring markers are not usually detected in lipomas with 12q rearrangements but are common in atypical lipomas and well-differentiated liposarcomas. The parapharyngeal lipoma we describe recurred after initial resection, and we hypothesize that the more aggressive tumor phenotype thus demonstrated may be causally related to the clonal evolution it had undergone.

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 10↗
PubMed1992

Chromosome abnormalities are associated with unfavorable outcome in prostatic cancer patients.

Potential clinico-cytogenetic correlations were assessed in 57 patients with prostatic cancer in whom cytogenetic analysis of the primary tumor had been successful. Clonal karyotypic abnormalities were found in 15 tumours, 18 had normal karyotypes with nonclonal structural abnormalities and 24 had normal karyotypes only. The study began in January 1987 and all patients were monitored regularly until death or through September 1990 (median followup from diagnosis 2.6 years and from surgery 1.3 years). Survival curves were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log rank test was used in univariate analyses of possible prognostic factors. The patients with clonal karyotypic abnormalities had shorter survival times (1.3 years) than those with normal karyotypes (greater than 3 years). The difference in survival after surgery was statistically significant (p less than 0.05) when all causes of death and when death from prostatic cancer alone were considered. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to evaluate the additional prognostic information of chromosomal changes in excess of that attributable to other well known prognostic factors, such as tumor stage and differentiation, acid and alkaline phosphatases, and performance status. In this analysis there also was a tendency for patients with clonal chromosome aberrations to have an unfavorable outcome but the association was not significantly (p = 0.13), possibly due to the rather small number of patients and short followup. Thus, our study suggests that the presence of clonal karyotypic changes in the tumor cells is associated with an unfavorable outcome in prostatic cancer patients.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1992

Prognostic impact of chromosome aberrations in ovarian cancer.

Clinico-cytogenetic correlations were assessed in 88 patients with malignant ovarian tumours. Cytogenetic analysis of the primary tumours yielded normal karyotype (N) in 33 patients and abnormal karyotypes (A) in 55 patients. Within the A group, seven tumours had simple abnormalities (AS), i.e., numerical changes only or a single structural aberration, and 48 had karyotypes with complex aberrations (AC). A correlation analysis between groups N and A revealed that cytogenetic abnormalities were more often found among seropapillary tumours, and that cases with abnormal karyotypes on average were of higher stage and more often had residual tumour mass after initial surgery (P less than 0.05 for all variables). When the three groups N, AS, and AC were compared, they were found to be significantly different with regard not only to the three parameters mentioned above, but now tumour grade also appeared to correlate with karyotypic pattern (P = 0.001), with poorly differentiated tumours having the most complex karyotypes. In a correlation analysis between karyotypic pattern and survival, group A patients had shorter survival than group N (P = 0.049). In the corresponding analysis between groups N, AS, and AC, the differences were also significant (P = 0.039), with shorter survival in group AC than in groups N and AS. Stage, grade, residual tumour after primary surgery, and performance status also correlated with survival time. A multivariate analysis identified abnormal karyotype as being independently associated with short survival in advanced clinical stages (P = 0.030) of ovarian carcinoma. We conclude that cytogenetic analysis of tumour cells may be of clinical value in the assessment of prognosis in patients with malignant ovarian tumours.

Adult↗