Elevated frequency of Micronuclei in uterine smears of cervix cancer patients

Epithelial scrapes of the cervix from patients with cervix cancer (n=30) and without the diseased condition (n=23) were processed for the micronucleus test. Statistical analysis of the data revealed significantly elevated frequency of micronucleated (MNd) cells in all the patients irrespective of the stage of cancer. The damage within the stage-types was however non-significant. Significantly elevated percent frequencies of MNd cells were also observed for pre-treated cervix cancer patients compared with the control data; for different age-at-marriage groups; in aged patients; in the weaker socio-economic groups and in those with more child-bearing and/or total number of pregnancies; though within group differences were not always significant.