Micronuclei in peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with of the gastrointestinal cancer

The Micronuclei has been discussed as an indicator of chromosomal damage in radiotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the changes of micronuclei in peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with of the gastrointestinal cancers pre- and post-chemo-radiation.
This cross-sectional study was conducted in patients with gastrointestinal cancers who referred to oncology ward of Rasool Akram Hospital in Tehran from January to March, 2016. After obtaining informed consent from all patients, 3 cc of peripheral blood samples was obtained for cytogenetic assessment in two stages, before treatment and 4 weeks after treatment. The frequency of micronuclei was examined per 1,000 lymphocytes with two nuclei.
Sixty-one patients were evaluated and 11 patients were excluded at the end of study. Fifty patients (34 males, 16 females) with a 59.74±13.34 years old were evaluated. 24 (48%) and 26 patients (52%) were in the less than 60 years’ age group and more than one, respectively. 37 cases (74%) with gastric cancer and 13 cases (26%) with esophageal cancer enrolled in the study. The significant differences were meaningful pre- and post-treatment (44.88 vs. 364.4 /1000 cells) (P=0.005). Also, there were no significant differences of the mean number of micronuclei between pre- and post-treatment according the type of cancer, sex and age groups. Further analysis according by age, sex and cancer of the esophagus or stomach showed no statistically significant differences between the groups in micronuclei number. In other words, chemotherapy and radiation in patients, regardless of age, sex and type of gastrointestinal cancer is very significant impact on the micronuclei production in peripheral blood of patients.
The number of micronuclei in peripheral blood increased significantly in patients with gastrointestinal tract cancer (esophagus and stomach) under the chemo-radiation therapy. It seems that this increase was not correlated with age, sex and type of cancer (stomach or esophagus).