Aneuploidy plays very important role in
tumor development as the consequence of either congenital or acquired mutations. In order to evaluate the adverse effects of various
aneugens, the knowledge of the spontaneous frequency of numerical
chromosome abnormalities in healthy population is fundamental. In our study we analyzed the spontaneous rate of numerical and structural
chromosome aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 2145 healthy individuals, with special attention to the influence of
biological (gender, age) and life-style factors (smoking, different occupational exposure). Correlation between
aneuploidy and risk of
cancer development were investigated according to National
Cancer Registry data followed for 1-23 years. In the whole population the average frequency of
aneuploid cells was 1.77±0.06%. This value increased by age linearly (r2=0.81) regardless of occupational exposures. Gender (
biological factor) or smoking (life style factor) did not influence the values, however, the occupation of individuals modified the frequency of numerical aberrations. Individuals who worked at workplaces with radiation hazard had the lowest (1.44±0.10%), and those working in the chemical industry had the highest (1.89±0.05%) values of
aneuploidy, respectively. We could not find any correlation between numerical and structural
chromosome aberrations. In our population studied 97 individuals developed
cancer and only those who had ≤2%
aneuploidy survived more than 12 years in good health conditions. To our knowledge, this study has the highest case number investigated up to now. Our results support that
aneuploidy, similarly to structural
chromosomal aberrations, might be an additional cytogenetic
biomarker of the genetic instability.