Chromosomes and causation of human cancer and leukemia.VIII. DMS chromosomes in a neuroblastoma

Abstract

Double-minute chromosomes (DMS) were found in a very high percentage of neuroblastoma cells in the marrow of a 3-year-old patient. An interesting and intriguing finding was that similar DMS, in number and distribution, were found in diploid cells in another marrow site of the same patient obtained on a different date. Cultured blood lymphocytes of the patient also contained the DMS and possibly points to a common factor leading to the genesis of DMS. The literature of tumors with DMS was summarized and several hypotheses advanced regarding the origin of DMS; the authors favor the concept that the DMS may represent chromomeres which have been set free, with the exact agent causing this being unknown.