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The Sex Chromatin in Human Malignant Tissues

1957; Springer Nature; Volume: 11; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/bjc.1957.45

1532-1827

Keith L. Moore, Murray L. Barr,

Estrogen and related hormone effects

A SEXUAL dimorphism in resting nuclei has been described for man and monkey among the primates, and for several species of the orders Carnivora and Artio- dactyla.It is based on the presence of a special chromocentre, known as the sex chromatin, in the nuclei of females.Graham and Barr (1952) suggested that the sex chromatin may represent heterochromatic regions of the two X-chromo- somes that adhere to each other.This hypothesis is strengthened by the meticulous study of chromocentres in epidermal cell nuclei by Sachs and Danon (1956).The literature pertaining to the sex chromatin and its clinical application in anomalies of sex development has been ably reviewed by Lennox (1956), Davidson and Smith (1956) and Nelson (1956).Several reports have appeared that deal with the sex chromatin of tumour cells and these will be referred to later in the paper.The observations recorded in the present report are a sequel to the study of sex characteristics in nuclei of benign tumours, where the nuclei were found to be like those of normal tissues (Moore and Barr, 1955). MATERIALS AND METHODSMalignant tumours were studied as they became available over a period of time from pathology laboratories and there was no attempt to concentrate on a particular type of tumour.The series consisted of 127 specimens that included 26 types of tumours according to histopathological diagnosis; 76 tumours were from females and 51 were from males (Table I).