The most common chromosome aberration detected by high-resolution comparative genomic hybridization in vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia is not seen in vulvar squamous cell carcinoma

We analyzed genetic changes in condylomas ( four cases), vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia I - III (VIN I - III, eleven cases), and primary vulvar squamous cell carcinomas (VSCC, ten cases) by high-resolution comparative genomic hybridization (HR-CGH) and flowcytometry. All samples were also human papilloma virus (HPV)-genotyped. Gain of chromosome 1, the aberration most often seen in VIN III (67%), was not seen in HPV-positive or - negative VSCCs (0%). Both VIN III and VSCC frequently showed gain of 3q ( 56 and 70%, respectively). The VIN III samples often demonstrated gain of 20q (56%) and 20p (44%), and the VSCC samples gain of 8q (60%), loss of 3p (50%), and 8p (40%). None of the four most frequent changes in the VSCC samples occurred exclusively in the HPV-positive or - negative samples. As expected, we did not find any cytogenetic changes in condylomas and nearly any changes in VIN I - II. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel.