Cytogenetic analysis of urologic malignancies: study of tumor colony forming cells and premature chromosome condensation.

We have utilized a human tumor clonogenic assay to grow, and subsequently cytogenetically analyze, tumor colony forming cells from human urologic malignancies. Results following chromosome banding analysis are presented from 4 cases of transitional cell carcinoma and 1 case of renal cell carcinoma. Preliminary evidence suggests a possible association between the loss of chromosome 8 and progression or recurrence of transitional cell carcinoma. Additionally, we have utilized the technique of premature chromosome condensation to identify the interphase chromatin profile of urothelial cells obtained by cystoscopy from 8 patients with transitional cell carcinoma and compared these results to urothelial cells obtained from 7 control patients. This study demonstrates that cells obtained from urologic cancers contain a high proportion of cells in late G1, while normal urothelial cells are usually found in the early G1 phase of the cell cycle. Statistical correlation of premature chromosome condensation analysis suggests this method may be a useful adjunct to routine histopathology in discriminating between normal and cancerous urothelium.