MICRONUCLEI IN SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

Review Article

Abstract

Micronuclei are small chromatin bodies that appear in the cytoplasm by the condensation of acrocentric chromosomal fragments or by whole chromosome, lagging behind the cell division.Micronuclei in oral exfoliated epithelial cells are widely used as a biomarker of chromosomal damage, genome instability and cancer risk in humans.In oral exfoliated cells these micronuclei are induced by variety of carcinogenic compounds ,which have been suggested to be most common cause of premalignant lesion ,conditions and oral cancer and thus can be used as a biomarker for cytogenetic damage.In this review ,the formation of these important nuclear anomalies that are commonly seen in cancer and are indicative of genome dmage that could increase the risk of developmental and degenerative diseases.