Chromosome evolution in retinoblastoma.

An attempt to reconstruct the chromosome evolution in 19 primary retinoblastoma tumors was made, taking into consideration the frequencies of the rearrangements for each case. The rearrangements were classified as early or late according to their frequency. Early chromosome rearrangements were +1q, +6p, -13/del(13q), -16/del(16q), -17/del(17p), and late rearrangements were (in decreasing order) -8, -17/del(17p), -22, +3/+3q, -4, -19, +1q, +7/+7q, -14, +21. Chromosome evolution was reconstructed by the analysis of parsimony using programs of phylogenetic inference, which belong to the computer package PHYLIP. Results of the reconstruction of chromosome evolution suggest that there are two types of retinoblastoma tumors which can be distinguished based on chromosome imbalance, and correlate with the presence or absence of additional copies of the short arm (p) of chromosome 6. Tumors with additional 6p chromosome had marked heterogeneity, with a high frequency of early as well as late chromosome changes. By contrast, tumors with a normal 6p complement had the fewest chromosome changes and, in particular, a lower frequency of late changes.