Nonrandom chromosome alterations in rhabdomyosarcoma.

Chromosome banding analysis was attempted on tumor cells from a total of six rhabdomyosarcomas. Results revealed a variety of chromosome alterations, including frequent structural rearrangement of chromosome #1 and the finding in one patient of multiple double minutes. The single chromosome most consistently involved in structural rearrangements was #3. Simple deletion or translocation of either the long or short arm of chromosome #3 was found in all rhabdomyosarcoma tumors examined in this report. Further, a review of the limited previous literature on rhabdomyosarcoma provided further support for the frequent alteration of chromosome #3 in this disease. Results from our study provide preliminary evidence that alterations of chromosome 3p14-21 may represent a site of nonrandom chromosome change in rhabdomyosarcoma.