Question 23

(Multiple Choice)

You have karyotyped cells from two colorectal tumor samples, one from a hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) patient, and the other from a familial adenomatous polyposis coli (FAP) patient. One group of the karyotypes shows gross chromosomal abnormalities with extra or deleted chromosomes and several translocations and deletions. The other group, however, is almost normal, and comparable to noncancerous samples. Which group would you expect to have loss-of-function mutations in the DNA mismatch repair system genes MSH2 and MLH1 as their primary driver mutations?


A) HNPCC, which has an almost normal karyotype
B) HNPCC, which has a grossly abnormal karyotype
C) FAP, which has an almost normal karyotype
D) FAP, which has a grossly abnormal karyotype

Answer