Chromosome Imbalances in Cancer: Molecular Cytogenetics Meets Genomics

Genomic instability is a hallmark of cancer, and it is well-known that in several cancers the karyotype is unstable and rapidly evolving. Molecular cytogenetics has contributed to the description and interpretation of cancer karyotypes, in particular through multicolor FISH approaches which can define even complex chromosome rearrangements. The introduction of genome-wide methods has made available a powerful set of tools with higher resolution than cytogenetics, thus appropriate to comprehend the huge variability of cancer cells. This review focuses on novel findings deriving from the combination of cytogenetic and genomic approaches in cancer research.