University of Arizona study identifies Y chromosome loss as potential cancer marker

A new study published in the journal ‘JCI Insight’ suggests that the loss of the Y chromosome in male cells could serve as an early indicator of cancer. Researchers found that cells located in the immediate vicinity of tumors exhibited a higher degree of Y chromosome loss compared to normal tissue, with the loss being even more pronounced within the tumors themselves.

Dan Teodorescu, director of the University of Arizona Cancer Center and lead author of the study, noted that the most surprising finding was that this loss was not limited solely to the tumor cells. This phenomenon, referred to by researchers as ‘mosaic loss of Y chromosome’, occurs when daughter cells lose the Y chromosome during division, creating tissue areas where some cells possess the chromosome while others do not.

The research team analyzed 1,000 archived tissue samples from 11 major organs collected from 405 men. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) testing, they were able to visualize X and Y chromosomes in more than 4.3 million cell nuclei to assess the extent of the loss.