Abstract
The finding of cancer specific chromosome abnormalities has contributed to the recognition and isolation of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Chromosome changes have been used for the analyses of genetic changes involved in the progression, such as invasion and metastasis, of cancer cells. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most commonly observed malignancy in the human adult kidney. The RCC is histopathologically classified into two types; non-papillary and papillary types. In non-papillary RCC, a frequently observed deleted region on the short arm of chromosome 3 suggested that tumor suppressor genes which are crucial for the RCC development may be localized at this region. With the analyses of primary event in RCC carcinogenesis, some candidate genes were isolated as a tumor suppressor gene involved in the genesis of sporadic RCC as well as the genetic disorder, VHL syndrome. In the present study, we have analyzed the chromosome change in sporadic RCC and considered the possible mechanism of RCC carcinogenesis and progression based on the chromosome abnormality. As above mentioned, loss of a short arm of chromosome 3 was most frequently observed in non-papillary RCC and the deleted region was spreading over the short arm of chromosome 3. On the other hand, numerical changes were frequently observed in the papillary RCC. Thus, the deletion in the wide range of chromosome arm and gain of whole chromosome may have the effects on the genome balance in the cell and such genome imbalance may also have some possible roles in the RCC development and progression.
