Analysis of genetic copy number changes in cervical disease progression.

Background: Cervical dysplasia and tumorigenesis have been linked with numerous chromosomal aberrations. The goal of this study was to evaluate 35 genomic regions associated with cervical disease and to select those which were found to have the highest frequency of aberration for use as probes in fluorescent in-situ hybridization.

Methods: The frequency of gains and losses using fluorescence in-situ hybridization were assessed in these 35 regions on 30 paraffin-embedded cervical biopsy specimens.

Dysplastic cells in cytological cervical samples show a high incidence of chromosomal abnormalities.

Chromosomal abnormalities are frequent in most cervical cancers. Amplifications of both the 3q26 (TERC) and 8q24 (MYC) loci have been shown to be prevalent in both high-grade lesions and invasive cervical carcinoma. Most of these studies have looked at either the histological sample or at the entire cytological population of cells.