Chromosome fragility test: A tool in identifying high cancer risk individuals in a population

• Main Authors: Cheng, Kristina Gail R., Hamoy, Geohana Victoria L.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2000
• Subjects: Chromosomes—Analysis; Physics
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/4260
• Institution: De La Salle University

Peripheral blood lymphocytes from 15 jeepney drivers and 15 control subjects were cultured and treated with bleomycin to induce chromosome lesions. The sensitivity to bleomycin was expressed as the number of chromatid breaks per cell (b/c). Bleomycin Sensitivity Test, is an assay used to test the fragility of chromosomes. The effects of bleomycin were evaluated based on the average number of chromatid breaks per cell (b/c). Results show that the chromosomes of jeepney drivers are hypersensitive to the effects of bleomycin with the average b/c values of 1.5702. The mean b/c value in the control group is 0.8543, which is considered within the borderline of sensitivity. Since the mutagen sensitivity assay is an indirect measure of DNA repair capacity, the high mean b/c value of driver points to a faulty repair mechanism. This consequently indicates a high cancer susceptibility of the group.