Conference paper
Carcinogenesis and Mutagenesis: The Analysis of Mutations in Somatic Cells
Vera Garaj-Vrhovac
; Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada
Abstract
Many chemical and physical agents are known mutagens and/or carcinogens. Mutagenesis and carcinogenesis are often considered together in the assessment of human health risks. Cytogenetic methods of biomonitoring are used to assess primary effects of carcinogens in occupationally exposed populations. Cytogenetic methods are widely employed in the analysis of human chromosomes and study of the mutagen effects on human somatic cells in vitro. Standard cytogenetic methods used in human biomonitoring include determination of microscopically visible chromosome lesions in human somatic cells, especially in the peripheral blood lymphocytes. Increased frequencies of chromosome lesions may serve as an indicator of genotoxic exposure and may suggest that chromosome irregularities are related to development of cancer. It is known that dysplasia and premalignant conditions are often accompanied by chromosome instability. Morever, it was observed that some types of cancer such as adenomatosis of the colon and rectum, dysplastic nevus syndrom, basal cell carcinoma, cancerous lesions of cervix uteri, Kaposi’s sarcoma, thyroid carcinoma, and lung cancer are characterised by specific chromosome aberrations. Chromosome aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes are among the most powerful biomarkers in cancer risk assessment because they betray early biological effects of genotoxic carcinogens on genetic material and reveal individual susceptibility to cancer.
Keywords
cancer risk; carcinogens; chromosomal aberration; molecular epidemiology; mutagens
Hrčak ID:
65673
URI
Publication date:
26.7.2000.
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