A variety of genetic changes, responsible for the genomic instability of cancer cells, have frequently been found in primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We studied the frequency of genomic instability in SCC of the pharynx and larynx compared to the degree of tumor differentiation to determine if there is any correlation between.
The study group included 30 patients having SCC of the pharynx (17 cases) and larynx (13 cases) with different degrees of differentiation. Biopsy specimens were collected from the tumor and from surrounding normal tissue of the same patient for comparison. Genomic DNA was isolated from solid tissue of carcinoma and surrounding normal tissue and amplified using 3 Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers known as primer OP3, OP6, and OP8. The relationship between the frequency of genomic instability and the histological degree of tumor differentiation was assessed.
The most prevalent detectability of genomic instability was found in OP3(412), OP6(255), and OP8(400&355) among all cases and referred to as "genomic instability-indicative bands". These bands were found in the three histological groups. A significant correlation was found between the percentage of genomic instability and the degree of tumor differentiation.
Thus, these bands could be used to determine the degree of tumor differentiation, prognosis and suitable treatment.