Yamaki H, Sasano H, Ohashi Y, Shizawa S, Shineha R, Satomi S, Nagura H
Department of Pathology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
Anticancer Res. 2001 Mar-Apr;21(2A):985-90.
The incidence of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in males is well-known to be higher than in females and its biological action in male patients is generally much more aggressive than that of the female. Recently, aberrations and/or other abnormalities of the sex chromosomes, especially the Y chromosome, have been postulated to be involved in some of the differences in the incidence and/or biological action of human malignancies between male and female patients. Therefore, in this study, we examined abnormalities of the sex chromosomes in cell smears obtained from 30 male patients diagnosed with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, TE series cell lines, derived from esophageal squamous cell carcinomas, were studied for sex chromosome abnormalities by utilizing a simultaneous double color fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and these findings were correlated with various clinicopathological parameters in order to examine its likely biological significance. In esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, Y chromosome loss was detected in all cases studied (1.6-86.9%, mean 22.98 +/- 22.04%), but the loss of the X chromosome was encountered in only 6 of the cases (7.1-40.6%, mean 15.90 +/- 12.46%). There was no significant association between the rate of Y chromosome loss in carcinoma cells and any of the clinicopathological parameters examined including age and stage of the cancer. Loss of the Y chromosome was observed in only two cases of adjacent non-pathological esophageal squamous cell epithelium. Among the TE series examined, the cell lines derived from male patients demonstrated loss of the Y chromosome in all cell lines (1.4-92.9%, mean 44.92 +/- 42.55%), but the great majority of cell lines derived from female patients were associated with the karyotype of XX. These results indicated that the loss of the Y chromosome is associated with the malignant phenotype in human esophageal squamous epithelium, but possibly not with biological behavior. These results also suggested that at least one X chromosome is indispensable for the survival of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
众所周知，男性人类食管鳞状细胞癌的发病率高于女性，并且其在男性患者中的生物学行为通常比女性更具侵袭性。最近，有人推测性染色体的畸变和/或其他异常，尤其是Y染色体，与男性和女性患者人类恶性肿瘤发病率和/或生物学行为的某些差异有关。因此，在本研究中，我们检查了30例诊断为食管鳞状细胞癌的男性患者细胞涂片中性染色体的异常情况。此外，利用同步双色荧光原位杂交（FISH）研究了源自食管鳞状细胞癌的TE系列细胞系的性染色体异常情况，并将这些结果与各种临床病理参数相关联，以检验其可能的生物学意义。在食管鳞状细胞癌中，在所研究的所有病例中均检测到Y染色体丢失（1.6 - 86.9%，平均22.98±22.04%），但仅在6例病例中发现X染色体丢失（7.1 - 40.6%，平均15.90±12.46%）。癌细胞中Y染色体丢失率与所检查的任何临床病理参数（包括癌症的年龄和分期）之间均无显著关联。仅在两例相邻的非病理性食管鳞状上皮细胞中观察到Y染色体丢失。在所检查的TE系列中，源自男性患者的细胞系在所有细胞系中均显示Y染色体丢失（1.4 - 92.9%，平均44.92±42.55%），但源自女性患者的绝大多数细胞系与XX核型相关。这些结果表明，Y染色体丢失与人类食管鳞状上皮的恶性表型相关，但可能与生物学行为无关。这些结果还表明，至少一条X染色体对于食管鳞状细胞癌的存活是不可或缺的。
