(Reprinted with permission from G.A. Pihan et al., Cancer Res, 63: 1398–404, 2003)
When stained with a biotinylated probe specific for the chromosome 8 centromere, diploid cells from normal human uterine cervix (A), breast (C), and prostate (E) tissue show two signals. Aneuploid cells from carcinoma tissues in situ (B, D, and F) each have three or more signals.
About 70 scientists recently attended an invitation-only California premiere tinged with controversy. But the event neither lit up a Hollywood theater nor unveiled an edgy new film. Billed as the "first conference on aneuploidy and cancer," it took place at Oakland's Waterfront Plaza Hotel in late January.
The conference explored whether aneuploidy, the cellular state of gained or lost chromosomes, is a driving force behind cancer. German biologist Theodor Boveri first floated that idea a century ago, and since then, cytologists have often observed aneuploid patterns in tumors. Colorectal cancer cells, ...