Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency and severity of chromosomal damage during chemotherapy treatment, to understand the role of chemotherapeutic agents inducing genetic damage and to understand the phenomenon of acquiring drug resistance. Blood samples were collected from gastric cancer patients receiving chemotherapy with the cytotoxic drugs epirubicin, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil, and 100 controls from recognized cancer hospitals under the supervision of an oncologist. Cytogenetic studies were carried out in peripheral blood lymphocytes of study population by adopting standard cytogenetic protocols such as (a) chromosomal aberrations (CA) and (b) sister chromatid exchanges (SCE). Student t- test was adopted to analyze the statistical significance. An increased pattern in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations was observed in the patients that received chemotherapy 10.14 ± 0.77 followed by 7.13 ± 0.48 without chemotherapy as against 3.70 ± 0.32 in control subjects (p<0.001). In conclusion, our results clearly reveal as a whole, the obvious effects of anticarcinogenic agents on the level of chromosomal aberrations in gastric cancer patients receiving therapy with respect to the genetic material.

Key words: Gastric cancer, cytogenetics, chromosomal aberrations, chemotherapy.