A method of monitoring or detecting cancer in a test cell obtained from a sample comprising the test cell, the method comprising: (a) characterizing 3D telomeric organization in the test cell using three-dimensional analysis; and (b) comparing the 3D telomeric organization in the test cell with that of a non-cancerous control cell, wherein a change in 3D telomeric organization in the test cell compared to the control cell indicates the presence of cancer in the test cell, wherein characterizing the 3D telomeric organization comprises at least one of: A. (i) inputting image data of the 3D organization of telomeres; (ii) processing the image data to find at set of coordinates {(x i,y i,z i)}, i =1,..., N, where ( x i, y i, z i) is a position of the ith telomere and/or chromosome; (iii) finding a plane that is closest to the set of coordinates; and (iv) finding a set of distances { d i}, i =1,..., N, where d i is the distance between ( x i, y i, z i) and the plane, wherein the set { d i} is utilized to characterize the 3D organization; B. (i) inputting image data of the 3D organization of telomeres structures; and (ii) finding an ellipsoid having principal axes a 1, a 2,and a 3 wherein the ellipsoid is an oblate spheroid with a 1 approximately equal to a 2 and wherein an oblateness ratio, a 3 / a 1 or a 1 / a 3, is used to characterize the 3D organization; and/or C. (i) inputting image data of the 3D organization of telomeres; and (ii) obtaining from the image data at least one of a set of intensities { I i}, a set of volumes { V i} and a set of three dimensions {( Dx i, Dy i, Dz i)}, i =1,..., N, where I i is a total or average intensity, V i is a volume, and ( Dx i, Dy i, Dz i) are principle axes of an ellipsoid describing the ith telomere and/or chromosome, respectively, wherein the at least one is utilized to characterize the 3D organization. (a) characterizing 3D telomeric organization in the test cell using three-dimensional analysis; and (b) comparing the 3D telomeric organization in the test cell with that of a non-cancerous control cell, wherein a change in 3D telomeric organization in the test cell compared to the control cell indicates the presence of cancer in the test cell, A. (i) inputting image data of the 3D organization of telomeres; (ii) processing the image data to find at set of coordinates {(x i,y i,z i)}, i =1,..., N, where ( x i, y i, z i) is a position of the ith telomere and/or chromosome; (iii) finding a plane that is closest to the set of coordinates; and (iv) finding a set of distances { d i}, i =1,..., N, where d i is the distance between ( x i, y i, z i) and the plane, wherein the set { d i} is utilized to characterize the 3D organization; (i) inputting image data of the 3D organization of telomeres; (ii) processing the image data to find at set of coordinates {(x i,y i,z i)}, i =1,..., N, where ( x i, y i, z i) is a position of the ith telomere and/or chromosome; (iii) finding a plane that is closest to the set of coordinates; and (iv) finding a set of distances { d i}, i =1,..., N, where d i is the distance between ( x i, y i, z i) and the plane, wherein the set { d i} is utilized to characterize the 3D organization; B. (i) inputting image data of the 3D organization of telomeres structures; and (ii) finding an ellipsoid having principal axes a 1, a 2,and a 3 wherein the ellipsoid is an oblate spheroid with a 1 approximately equal to a 2 and wherein an oblateness ratio, a 3 / a 1 or a 1 / a 3, is used to characterize the 3D organization; and/or (i) inputting image data of the 3D organization of telomeres structures; and (ii) finding an ellipsoid having principal axes a 1, a 2,and a 3 wherein the ellipsoid is an oblate spheroid with a 1 approximately equal to a 2 and wherein an oblateness ratio, a 3 / a 1 or a 1 / a 3, is used to characterize the 3D organization; and/or C. (i) inputting image data of the 3D organization of telomeres; and (ii) obtaining from the image data at least one of a set of intensities { I i}, a set of volumes { V i} and a set of three dimensions {( Dx i, Dy i, Dz i)}, i =1,..., N, where I i is a total or average intensity, V i is a volume, and ( Dx i, Dy i, Dz i) are principle axes of an ellipsoid describing the ith telomere and/or chromosome, respectively, wherein the at least one is utilized to characterize the 3D organization. (i) inputting image data of the 3D organization of telomeres; and (ii) obtaining from the image data at least one of a set of intensities { I i}, a set of volumes { V i} and a set of three dimensions {( Dx i, Dy i, Dz i)}, i =1,..., N, where I i is a total or average intensity, V i is a volume, and ( Dx i, Dy i, Dz i) are principle axes of an ellipsoid describing the ith telomere and/or chromosome, respectively, wherein the at least one is utilized to characterize the 3D organization.