Intratumoral genomic heterogeneity in advanced head and neck cancer detected by comparative genomic hybridization.

Objectives: Little is known about the extent of intratumoral genetic heterogeneity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Material: Therefore, we examined 79 stage III and IV primary HNSCCs and matched lymph node metastases for over- and underrepresentation of specific chromosome regions by comparative genomic hybridization.

Results: The overall ratio of gains and losses was higher in metastases (M) than in primary (P) tumors (4/1 vs.

Intratumoral genomic heterogeneity in advanced head and neck cancer detected by comparative genomic hybridization.

Little is known about the extent of intratumoral genetic heterogeneity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We therefore examined 79 stage III and IV primary HNSCCs (P) and matched lymph node metastases (M) for over- and underrepresentation of specific chromosome regions by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). The overall ratio of gains and losses was higher in metastases than in primary tumors (4/1 vs.