Heterochromatic variants and their association with neoplasias: IV. Colon adenomas and carcinomas.

C-band polymorphisms in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 62 patients (33 with colon adenomas and 29 with colon carcinomas) were studied. A significant difference in the frequency of heterochromatic variants in chromosomes #1 in both colon adenoma (56%) and carcinoma (67%) with respect to controls (18%) was observed (p less than 0.001). The heterochromatic variants preferentially involved in both pathologies were inv(1), 1qh-, and inv(9), compared with controls. No differences were found between colon adenomas and carcinomas. We suggest that 1qh- and inv(1) variants are important heterochromatic changes in neoplasia.