Biomedical subjects

M Gerbault-Seureau

Publications and source records attributed to M Gerbault-Seureau.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Aneuploidy in human lymphocytes: an extensive study of eight individuals of various ages.

Data on aneuploidy from a prospective study on a large number of lymphocyte metaphases (over 1000 in 72-h and 100 in 48-h cultures) per individual from eight healthy donors of various ages are reported. Chromosome losses were dependent on culture time, being significantly more frequent in 72-h than in 48-h cultures. All donors exhibited various degrees of aneuploidy which increased with age in women. This increase resulted essentially from X chromosome losses, as previously reported. Although the rate of aneuploidy limited to autosomes was similar in newborns and in adults, the distributions of the missing autosomes were different. In the two newborns studied, autosome aneuploidy was random. In the adults, a significant inverse correlation with autosome lengths was observed. The inverse correlation between chromosome lengths and losses may be explained by selective pressure against monosomic cells in the adults.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Constitutional balanced translocations in patients with solid tumors.

In a sample of 329 patients with a solid tumor (colon and breast adenocarcinoma, cervical carcinoma, and meningioma), four balanced constitutional translocations were observed. Two were t(13q14q), and two were reciprocal translocations. Comparison with surveys of newborns showed a significant excess of translocations in our sample.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1992

Proliferative activity of breast cancers increases in the course of genetic evolution as defined by cytogenetic analysis.

The prognostic value of proliferative activity and its relationship with steroid hormone receptors and histopathological grade have been demonstrated for breast cancers. However, nothing is known about the underlying mechanisms. In order to understand the chronology of the appearance of increased proliferative activities, we used a series of 760 consecutive breast cancers for which we had obtained S-phase fractions (SPFs) by DNA flow cytometry. When the absolute difference from a DNA index of 1.00 was compared to SPFs, a significant positive correlation was obtained (r = 0.39, p < 0.0001), indicating that the probability of observing a high SPF increases when tumors progressively deviate from diploidy. A highly significant correlation was observed for the hyperploid group when hypertetraploid tumors were excluded, as the SPFs increased progressively as the DNA indices decreased from 2.00 to 1.30. This observation suggested a relationship with the evolution of chromosomal abnormalities as determined by cytogenetic analysis. Indeed, in a subset of 52 cases for which sufficient metaphases were available, there was a highly significant correlation between the SPF values and the proportion of rearranged chromosomes in the tumor cells (r = 0.60, p < 0.0001). When SPFs were separated into low or high using the median value (4.5%), a correlation also existed with the genetic evolution, since they increased from diploidy to hypodiploidy and then, after endoreduplication, from tetraploidy towards triploidy, as determined by the chromosome counts. Our results substantiate the relationship between proliferative activity and steroid hormone receptors which follow the same model.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Biological Evolution↗

PubMed1992

Genetic evolution of breast cancer: II. Relationship with estrogen and progesterone receptor expression.

The expression of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors was assayed by steroid binding in a series of 95 malignant breast tumors, for which the analysis of chromosome aberrations was performed and allowed the reconstruction of their chromosomal evolution. It was shown that breast tumors undergo a progressive loss of chromosomes, with occasionally one and rarely two endoreduplications. Chromosome losses were often the consequence of rearrangements, and the rate of rearranged chromosomes, which increases progressively, appeared as a possible indicator of tumor progression. The distribution of ER and PR values in the sample of 95 tumors was compared to that of a larger control series of consecutive cases: 598 for ER and 460 for PR. The similarities of the distributions indicated that the sample of 95 tumors was representative of the general population of breast cancers. The levels of ER and PR expression were very strongly and negatively correlated to the rate of rearranged chromosomes, but not to the modal number of chromosomes. However, when tumors having either undergone endoreduplication or not (greater than 50 or less than 51 chromosomes, respectively) were considered separately, a significant correlation between ER and PR expression and chromosome number was found within each group. Finally, breast cancers were subdivided into 4 stages of cytogenetic evolution, from the least to the most evolved: stage 1: less than or equal to 50 chromosomes, less than 25% rearranged chromosomes; stage 2: greater than 50 chromosomes, less than 25% rearranged chromosomes; stage 3: less than or equal to 50 chromosomes, greater than 25% rearranged chromosomes; stage 4: greater than 50 chromosomes, greater than 25% rearranged chromosomes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed1992

Cytogenetic study of breast cancer: clinicopathologic significance of homogeneously staining regions in 84 patients.

A cytogenetic study performed on 84 primary breast cancers was conducted to detect the presence of chromosomes with homogeneously staining regions (HSRs) which are assumed to correspond to gene amplification. Homogeneously staining regions were found in 60% of the cases. To assess the prognostic significance of HSRs, clinical and pathologic data were correlated with the cytogenetic findings. Median follow-up for the 84 patients was 40 months. Differences in overall survival and disease-free survival rates between patients with HSRs (50 cases) and patients without HSRs (34 cases) were not significant. Although an excess of HSRs was found in patients considered to have poor prognostic factors (eg, young age, high histologic grade, metastatic axillary nodes, loss of hormonal receptors), no statistically significant correlation between variables could be demonstrated. The high percentage of cases with HSRs strongly suggests that they have an important biologic role, but more cases should be studied with a longer follow-up to assess their significance.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Breast cancer genetic evolution: I. Data from cytogenetics and DNA content.

A general scheme of chromosome alterations occurring during tumor progression is proposed from the cytogenetic study of 113 breast carcinomas. For 76 of these tumors, chromosome numbers and rate of chromosome rearrangements were correlated with DNA content studied by flow cytometry. A series of 536 cases was used as control for flow cytometry. The following evolution can be proposed: 1. occurrence of unbalanced rearrangements decreasing chromosome number and DNA content; 2. correlatively to the rate of chromosome rearrangements, formation of endoreduplications leading to hyperploid sidelines; 3. persistence of the near diploid cells and decrease of chromosome number to about 35 and of DNA index to .85; 4. more frequently, elimination of the near diploid cells and complete passage to hyperploidy; 5. further losses of chromosomes in the hyperploid tumors, whose karyotypes can decrease to about 55 chromosomes and a DNA index of 1.35; 6. eventually, occurrence of a second endoreduplication, leading to an apparent near tetraploidy. The rate of rearranged chromosomes may reach 80% in both near diploid tumors with 35-40 and hyperploid tumors with 55-65 chromosomes which can be regarded as those with the highest degree of tumor progression. It is shown that the increase of chromosome number and DNA index above diploidy is very limited, and that all tumors with more than 50 chromosomes and 1.35 DNA content passed through endoreduplication. This results in many possible losses of heterozygosity in these cases.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1991

Recurrent homogeneously staining regions in 8p1 in breast cancer and lack of amplification of POLB, LHRH, and PLAT genes.

In a cytogenetic study of 125 primary and untreated breast cancers, 107 were selected for the quality of their metaphases permitting detection of amplifications:homogeneously staining regions (HSRs), abnormally banded region (ABRs), and double minutes (dmins). HSRs and ABRs were detected in 62 cases (58%), but no cases of dmins were observed. The localizations of HSRs and ABRs were not random because they were observed in the 8p1 position in 14 cases. The possible amplifications of five sequences, MOS (8q1), LHRH (8p21.1), POLB (8p11.2), PLAT (8p12), and D8Z2 (8c) were investigated in three tumors with HSR on the short arm of chromosome 8. Because these sequences were not amplified, two interpretations can be proposed: 1) there is a frequent amplification of a sequence from the 8p1 region, located between the investigated sequences; and 2) the amplifications do not occur in 8p1, but HSRs or ABRs of undetermined origin have a strong tendency to be translocated onto 8p. Because cases with HSR(8p) have less complex karyotypes than with HSRs in other locations, the first interpretation is the most likely: HSRs may be formed in 8p and further translocated on other chromosomes in the course of tumor progression.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed1991

Prolonged G2 phase of breast cancer cells and chromosome damage.

5-bromodeoxyuridine incorporation was studied in metaphase chromosomes from 24 breast tumour specimens, including 23 adenocarcinomas. In these 23 cases, a slow cell cycle was observed, with a long (8 h) G2 phase. This slowing of the cell cycle, which was poorly related to the degree of polyploidy, was significantly related to the number of chromosome anomalies: the cell cycle was particularly slow when many rearranged chromosome were observed. These in vitro findings during the first cell cycle cannot easily be transposed to the in vivo situation. By analogy with Fanconi anaemia, in which both chromosome lesions and a long G2 phase are detected, a DNA repair defect and/or high DNA mutagenesis might exist in breast cancer cells.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1990

Characterization of chromosomal anomalies in human breast cancer. A comparison of 30 paradiploid cases with few chromosome changes.

A comparison of chromosomal anomalies detected in 30 cases of breast cancer in females with near-diploid karyotypes is reported. The tumors, of which 20 were previously unpublished, were selected for the relatively low complexity of their karyotypes, among a sample of 118 cases. Almost all of the 151 structural rearrangements detected were unbalanced, and 67% of breakpoints were located in or had contact with heterochromatin. In cases with few anomalies, rearrangements of chromosomes 1 and/or 16 were very frequent, leading principally to a gain of 1q and loss of 16q. In cases with more anomalies (5-16), deletions involving 17p, 4p, 13, 6q, 8p, 9p, 11p, and 11q and gains of 1q and 8q were the most frequent. Homogeneously staining regions (HSR) were detected in 14 tumors, mostly on 8p (6/22) and chromosome 19 (3/22). No double minutes (dmin) were observed. We conclude that trisomy 1q and monosomy 16q are early chromosomal changes in breast cancer, whereas other deletions and gain of 8q are clearly secondary events.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Proto-oncogene amplification and homogeneously staining regions in human breast carcinomas.

Cytogenetic studies on fresh human breast cancers revealed that homogeneously staining regions (HSRs), which are assumed to represent DNA amplification, are observed in almost half of the cases. To search for a possible relationship between HSRs and proto-oncogene amplification, 16 proto-oncogenes, including ERBB2, were studied by Southern blot analysis in four tumors with two or three HSRs, and in three tumors without HSRs. Only four proto-oncogenes were found to be amplified in at least one tumor each: HST and INT2 (x3), MYC (x2-3), and FES (x greater than 10). The large sizes of the HSRs, which each corresponded to several percent of the haploid genome, were hardly compatible with the low rate of amplification, except for FES and then only if a large adjacent segment was co-amplified. This incomplete correlation was demonstrated by in situ hybridization, using biotinylated probes, which showed fluorescent spots on only one HSR for FES in one tumor and for INT2 in another one. Our results indicate that most of the large amplifications corresponding to HSRs do not involve the proto-oncogenes usually studied in breast cancer. The large amplification of FES, detected in one tumor, may be coincidental.

Blotting, Southern↗

PubMed1989

Chromosomal aberrations in lymphocytes of patients treated with melphalan.

Chromosome lesions detected in lymphocytes from 14 patients previously treated with melphalan, a bifunctional alkylating agent, have been analyzed on R-banded preparations. In comparison to controls, there was no significant increase of chromatid-type lesions, but chromosome-type lesions were quite frequent, affecting 21.5% of metaphases, on the average. Reciprocal translocations represent 54%, unbalanced translocations 15%, deletions 19% and inversions 6% of all rearrangements. Most of these would not have been detected without the use of chromosome banding. The distributions of affected chromosomes and chromosome bands were not random. Almost all imbalances resulting from rearrangements lead to losses but not to gains. The distribution of the abnormal chromosomes has been compared to that observed in controls and in in vitro experiments, and to the characteristic pattern of malignant cells from patients affected by secondary acute leukemia (ANLL).

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed1989

Detection of 1q polysomy in interphase nuclei of human solid tumors with a biotinylated probe.

A biotinylated probe (L23-21) specific for the 1q12 band of human karyotype was used to detect the 1q segment in interphase nuclei of breast and colon carcinomas. This probe was selected because trisomy or polysomy 1q is the most frequent chromosomal change observed in solid tumors. This method enables cancerous cells, including near-diploid ones carrying an unbalanced rearrangement of 1q, to be easily identified.

Biotin↗

PubMed1989

Chromosomal aberrations induced by low-dose gamma-irradiation. Study of R-banded chromosomes of human lymphocytes.

The effect of low-dose (0-0.5 Gy) gamma-radiations was studied on R-banded chromosomes from lymphocytes of healthy donors of various ages. In cells from newborns, an increase of chromosome damage roughly proportional to the dose was found. In lymphocytes from young adults chromosomal aberrations were not detected at doses of 0.05 and 0.1 Gy, and in lymphocytes from old adults chromosomal aberrations were not detected at doses of 0.05 and 0.1 Gy, and in lymphocytes from old adults not even at 0.2 Gy. The difficulty in detecting aberrations in lymphocytes from adults is largely due to a considerable background of chromosomal anomalies which should be borne in mind in dosimetry studies. The rate of induction largely depends on the types of rearrangements. One-break terminal deletions are efficiently induced at 0.1 and 0.2 Gy and are the best indicators of exposure at these doses. At 0.5 Gy, the frequencies of 2-break lesions, i.e., dicentrics and reciprocal translocations, increase, whereas that of deletions decreases.

Chromosome Aberrations↗

PubMed1988

Acquired chromosome rearrangements in human lymphocytes: effect of aging.

A prospective study of structural rearrangements occurring in normal lymphocytes was carried out. For each of two newborns and four young and two old adults, about 1000 metaphases from 72-h and 120 from 48-h cultures were studied. The frequency of rearrangements between bands 7p14, 7q35, 14q11.2 or 14q12 and 14qter, which is on the average about 0.003, is higher in newborns (0.0043) than in adults (0.0024). Conversely, the rearrangements involving other bands, which have a frequency of 0.025 on the average, are more frequent in old adults (f = 0.038) than in young adults (f = 0.025) and newborns (f = 0.013). The first type of rearrangement, which occurs in utero, may correspond to immunoglobulin and related gene rearrangements. The other rearrangements seem to accumulate progressively and may reflect exposure to mutagens. It is import to discriminate these two types of rearrangements when studying the effect of low doses of mutagens.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Isoacentric and isocentric chromosomes originating after deletions of human chromosomes.

The analysis of a sample of 100 isoacentric (IA) and isocentric (IC) chromosomes, which had originated from spontaneous or radiation-induced deletions in human lymphocytes, is reported. IC and also IA have a strong tendency to be formed after breakage in juxtacentromeric heterochromatin. When euchromatic regions are involved, the breaks are not distributed at random since they frequently occur at places where juxtacentromeric heterochromatin exists in other primate species. It is assumed that intercalary structures conserving some of the properties of heterochromatin exists in human chromosomes in intercalary positions.

Chromosome Aberrations↗

PubMed1987

Cytogenetic study of twelve human near-diploid breast cancers with chromosomal changes.

The karyotypes of 12 fresh breast cancers, including two of the male, selected for their near-diploidy and their slight number of anomalies, i.e. less than 10 rearranged chromosomes, are reported. A clonal evolution could be demonstrated in 4 cases. Most of chromosomal imbalances result from structural rearrangement, frequently after breakage in juxtacentromeric heterochromatin. There does not seem to exist a specific breakpoint, but many of the imbalances are recurrent. They are, by decreasing order of frequency: gain of 1q, (7 cases), losses of 11q, 16q and 1p (5 cases), losses of 8p and 13q (4 cases), gain of 8q and losses of 6q and 17p (3 cases). None of these anomalies can be regarded as primary, but they are likely to be selected because they confer a slight selective advantage for the carrier cells during the tumoral progression.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed1987

Recurrent HSR in the centromeric region of chromosome 8 in breast cancer.

In a sample of 44 human breast cancers, the presence of HSRs was detected in 15 cases (36%). The occurrence of HSRs seems correlated poorly with tumor progression, but the number of HSRs per cell certainly does. Chromosome 8 was the most frequently involved, and the HSRs were always located near its centromere, suggesting that an amplification of gene(s) located in this region has occurred. Among these, LHRH is a candidate, but further studies are needed to confirm or reject this hypothesis.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed1986

Radiation induced inversions in human somatic cells.

Peri- and paracentric inversions induced by various types of ionizing radiation (gamma and alpha-rays, neutron and neon beams) are analysed. Their frequencies significantly increase for radiation doses greater than or equal to .5 Gy. Their distribution does not seem to be at random. Pericentric are detected 3 to 4 times more frequently than paracentric inversions. Some identical inversions are recurrently induced. A proportion reproduces inversions detected in human cytogenetics laboratories and a larger proportion, chromosomes of other primate species. It seems that breakages, which numbers are roughly proportional to chromosome lengths, lead to reassociations with a limited number of combinations.

Alpha Particles↗