Trisomy 18 as the first chromosome abnormality in a medullary breast cancer

A tumor profile in Edwards syndrome (trisomy 18)

Constitutional trisomy 18 causes Edwards syndrome, which is characterized by intellectual disability and a particular set of malformations. Although this condition carries high mortality during prenatal and early postnatal life, some of the rare infants who survive the first months develop benign and malignant tumors. To determine the tumor profile associated with Edwards syndrome, we performed a systematic review of the literature. This review reveals a tumor profile differing from those of Down (trisomy 21) and Patau (trisomy 13) syndromes. The literature covers 45 malignancies: 29 were liver cancers, mainly hepatoblastomas found in Japanese females; 13 were kidney tumors, predominantly nephroblastomas; 1 was neuroblastoma; 1 was a Hodgkin disease; and 1 was acute myeloid leukemia in an infant with both trisomy 18 and type 1 neurofibromatosis. No instances of the most frequent malignancies of early life-cerebral tumors, germ cell tumors, or leukemia--are reported in children with pure trisomy 18. Tumor occurrence does not appear to correlate with body weight, tissue growth, or cancer genes mapping to chromosome 18. Importantly, the most recent clinical histories report successful treatment; this raises ethical concerns about cancer treatment in infants with Edwards syndrome. In conclusion, knowledge of the Edwards' syndrome tumor profile will enable better clinical surveillance in at-risk organs (i.e., liver, kidney). This knowledge also provides clues to understanding oncogenesis, including the probably reduced frequency of some neoplasms in infants and children with this genetic condition. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cytogenetic findings in invasive breast carcinomas with prognostically favourable histology: a less complex karyotypic pattern?

Seventeen invasive primary breast carcinomas of histological types usually considered to be prognostically favourable (2 medullary, 3 papillary, 3 tubular, and 9 mucinous carcinomas) were analysed as part of an ongoing study of the cytogenetics of breast cancer. Thirteen of the tumours (7 mucinous, 2 medullary, 2 papillary, and 2 tubular carcinomas) showed clonal chromosome aberrations. Trisomy 7 and i(1q) were present as sole and recurrent aberrations in the mucinous tumours. The 2 tubular carcinomas and I papillary carcinoma had simple numerical changes only, whereas the second papillary tumour had a balanced translocation as the sole anomaly. Both medullary carcinomas had chromosome numbers in the triploid range, with clones displaying structural and numerical changes. Our data, especially when collated with information on previously published cases of mucinous, papillary, tubular, and medullary breast carcinomas, show that the former 3 histological types, in keeping with their recognised prognostic advantage, appear to exhibit relatively simple karyotypic changes, i.e., numerical aberrations, balanced translocations, and near-diploid chromosome numbers. Medullary carcinomas on the other hand, appear to have more complex karyotypes, similar to those described for the more common ductal and lobular subtypes of breast carcinoma.

Two cases of fibrocystic breast disease with polysomy 18 as the sole clonal cytogenetic abnormality

In the present study, we describe the occurrence of numerical alterations of chromosome 18 in two cases of benign fibrous/fibrocystic tumors of the breast, both of which were studied by conventional cytogenetic investigations and one of which was additionally tested by fluorescence in situ hybridization with the use of an alphoid centromeric probe specific for chromosome 18. Case 1 showed a tetrasomy 18 in 2 of 33 metaphases as the only clonal chromosomal aberration. Case 2 revealed both trisomy and tetrasomy 18 as clonal alterations in metaphases and interphase nuclei.

Trisomy 8 and 18 as frequent clonal and single-cell aberrations in 185 primary breast carcinomas

For cytogenetic investigations short-term cultures of 185 breast carcinomas (135 invasive ductal, 21 invasive lobular, 12 invasive ductal with intraductal components, seven heterogeneous, six intraductal, four invasive ductal and lobular) were prepared. Cytogenetic examinations revealed clonal abnormalities in 39 cases with a predominance of simple numerical chromosome changes, i.e., trisomies of chromosomes 7, 8, and 18. One hundred forty-six tumors did not show clonal abnormalities, but single-cell aberrations other than monosomies occurred in 79 of these tumors. Compared to cells of epithelial hyperplasia of the breast, amniotic fluid cells, and cells from pleomorphic adenomas cultivated using the same medium, the frequency of single-cell trisomies was significantly higher. Trisomy 8 was not only found as a clonal aberration in 10 cases but was also the most frequent non-clonal aberration. Trisomy 7 and 18 were also frequent clonal as well as non-clonal cytogenetic deviations.

Breast cancer

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States; annual breast cancer deaths are exceeded only by those for lung cancer.

METHODS

Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program registry of the National Cancer Institute comprising 158,621 invasive and 10,639 in situ cases of microscopically confirmed breast carcinomas registered for the years 1973-1987 have been analyzed. Relative frequencies, incidence rates, and 5-year relative survival rates were examined by selected variables of interest. Invasive and in situ breast carcinomas and sarcomas were analyzed separately.

RESULTS

Infiltrating duct carcinoma was the largest group of female breast cancer, constituting 67.9% of the total with a 5-year relative survival of 79%. All other invasive carcinomas were compared with this group. Lobular carcinoma was the second largest group, only 6.3%, and a 5-year relative survival of 84%. Medullary carcinoma was the third most common with 2.8% and a 5-year relative survival of 82%. Other types included mucinous (colloid) adenocarcinoma, 2.2%, 5-year relative survival of 95%; comedocarcinoma, 1.4%, 5-year relative survival of 87%; Paget's disease (nipple and other breast), 1.1%, 5-year relative survival of 79%; papillary carcinoma, 0.9%, 5-year relative survival of 95%; tubular adenocarcinoma, 0.7%, 5-year relative survival of 96% and inflammatory carcinoma, 0.5%, 5-year relative survival of 18%. Carcinoma in situ was registered as intraductal, lobular, combined ductal and lobular, papillary, and carcinoma in situ, not otherwise specified. The relative survival for all forms of carcinomas in situ was approximately 100%. Sarcomas and malignant tumors not further classified are also considered.

CONCLUSIONS

The various histologic types of breast cancer exhibit differences in regard to relative frequency, site pattern within the breast, and patient survival. The SEER program data base of breast cancer is the largest single population-based reference source for breast cancer in the United States. This program is a valuable resource for information on frequency, percentage, and incidence rates by histologic type as well as survival rates of patients with breast cancer.