Aberrations Involving Chromosome 1 as a Possible Predictor of Odds Ratio for Colon Cancer - Results from the Krakow Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND There is still an open question how to predict colorectal cancer risk before any morphological changes appear in the colon. OBJECTIVE The purpose was to investigate aberrations in chromosomes 1, 2 and 4 in peripheral blood lymphocytes analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization technique as a tool to assess the likelihood of colorectal cancer. METHODS A hospital-based case-control study included 20 colon cancer patients and 18 hospital-based controls. Information about potential covariates was collected by interview. The frequency of stable and unstable chromosome aberrations in chromosome 1, 2 and 4 was assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization technique. RESULTS Colorectal cancer patients, as compared to controls, had a relatively higher frequency of chromosome 1 translocations (median: 3.5 versus 1.0 /1000 cells, p = 0.006), stable aberrations (3.8 versus 1.0 /1000 cells, p = 0.007) and total aberrations (p = 0.009). There were no differences observed for chromosomes 2 and 4. Our results showed an increase in the odds of having colon cancer by about 50-80% associated with an increase by 1/1000 cells in the number of chromosome 1 aberrations. CONCLUSIONS The results revealed that the frequency of chromosomal aberrations, especially translocations in chromosome 1, seems to be a promising method to show a colon cancer risk. Additionally, our study suggests the reasonableness of use of biomarkers such as chromosome 1 aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes in screening prevention programs for individuals at higher colon cancer risk to identify those who are at increased risk and require more frequent investigations, e.g. by sigmoidoscopy.