BMC Cancer Research article BioMed Central Open Access Microarray comparative genomic hybridization detection of chromosomal imbalances in uterine cervix carcinoma Alfredo Hidalgo1,8, Michael Baudis2, Iver Petersen3, Hugo Arreola1, Patricia Piña1, Guelaguetza Vázquez-Ortiz1, Dulce Hernández4, José González5, Minerva Lazos6, Ricardo López1, Carlos Pérez1, José García7, Karla Vázquez1, Brenda Alatorre1 and Mauricio Salcedo*1 Address: 1Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI-IMSS, México, 2Division of Pediatric Haematology/Oncology, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, 3Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Charité, Berlin, Germany, 4Servicio de Epidemiología, Hospital de Oncologia, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI-IMSS, México, 5Clínica de Displasias, Hospital de Gineco-Obstetrica No. 4, Luis Castelazo Ayala-IMSS, México, 6Departamento de Patología, Facultad de Medicina UNAM-Hospital General de México, SS, México, 7Laboratorio de Biología Teórica, Departamento de Investigación, Universidad La Salle, México and 8Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genomica, Secretaria de Salud, Mexico Email: Alfredo Hidalgo - ahidalgo@inmegen.org.mx; Michael Baudis - mbaudis@ufl.edu; Iver Petersen - iver.petersen@charite.de; Hugo Arreola - pearl_hugo@yahoo.com; Patricia Piña - mazactli@hotmail.com; Guelaguetza Vázquez-Ortiz - guelav@yahoo.com; Dulce Hernández - dulcema@servidor.unam.mx; José González - gonzalez@hotmail.com; Minerva Lazos - minelazos@yahoo.com; Ricardo López - rlopez@yahoo.com; Carlos Pérez - car_plas@yahoo.com; José García - jgarcia@ci.ulsa.mx; Karla Vázquez - sotaliak@hotmail.com; Brenda Alatorre - calili_nuevo@yahoo.com.mx; Mauricio Salcedo* - maosal89@yahoo.com * Corresponding author Published: 09 July 2005 BMC Cancer 2005, 5:77 doi:10.1186/1471-2407-5-77 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/5/77 Received: 22 February 2005 Accepted: 09 July 2005 © 2005 Hidalgo et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: Chromosomal Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) has been applied to all stages of cervical carcinoma progression, defining a specific pattern of chromosomal imbalances in this tumor. However, given its limited spatial resolution, chromosomal CGH has offered only general information regarding the possible genetic targets of DNA copy number changes. Methods: In order to further define specific DNA copy number changes in cervical cancer, we analyzed 20 cervical samples (3 pre-malignant lesions, 10 invasive tumors, and 7 cell lines), using the GenoSensor microarray CGH system to define particular genetic targets that suffer copy number changes. Results: The most common DNA gains detected by array CGH in the invasive samples were located at the RBP1-RBP2 (3q21-q22) genes, the sub-telomeric clone C84C11/T3 (5ptel), D5S23 (5p15.2) and the DAB2 gene (5p13) in 58.8% of the samples. The most common losses were found at the FHIT gene (3p14.2) in 47% of the samples, followed by deletions at D8S504 (8p23.3), CTDP1- SHGC- 145820 (18qtel), KIT (4q11-q12), D1S427-FAF1 (1p32.3), D9S325 (9qtel), EIF4E (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E, 4q24), RB1 (13q14), and DXS7132 (Xq12) present in 5/17 (29.4%) of the samples. Conclusion: Our results confirm the presence of a specific pattern of chromosomal imbalances in cervical carcinoma and define specific targets that are suffering DNA copy number changes in this neoplasm. Page 1 of 7 (page number not for citation purposes)