The chromosomal analysis of human solid tumors. A triple challenge.

The present review considers the three main issues of the cytogenetic analysis of human solid tumors: the technical limitations, the difficulty in interpreting the available results, and the uncertainty affecting any hypothesis about the role of chromosome changes in tumorigenesis. Information is given on the recent improvements in the field of tumor cell culturing and karyotyping, with a critical discussion of more than 1300 cytogenetic studies from 18 different tumors, and clues for a synthetic understanding of the cytogenetics of malignancy.