The structure and origin of giant nuclei in human cancer cells

Abstract

The structure and origin of giant nuclei in human cancer cells were studied in two cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix. Feulgen-squash preparations of untreated biopsies showed the following types of nuclei: fairly evenly stained nuclei, nuclei with distinct chromocenters from which individual chromosomes sometimes seemed to radiate, and nuclei with banded structures which we tentatively interpret as some type of "polytene" chromosomes possibly showing prophase chromomeres. In neither tumor did either the small or large nuclei display any X chromatin bodies. The main processes giving rise to the different types of nuclei are endoreduplication, true endomitosis, and a kind of polytenization. The multichromosome chromocenters that fell apart possibly represent polytene chromosomes separating into individual chromosomes.