科研人員發現基因芯片譜能夠提示染色體的不穩定性，這種不穩定性能夠進一步發展成為染色體異常，在各種癌癥中都可以預示臨床轉歸。

在2006年8月《自然遺傳學》在線版的一項研究報道說，染色體異常的檢測提供了確定各種腫瘤惡性程度的途徑。對18項先前癌癥研究中基因表達（活性）資料的研究，代表了6種癌癥類型，科研人員發現這種基因譜，或者特性，能夠預測出12個研究人群的預后很差。
 
Chromosome Instability Predicts Cancer Outcome
 
Scientists have found that a gene-chip profile indicating chromosome instability--an increased tendency to develop chromosome aberrations--predicts clinical outcome in a broad range of cancers.

A study appearing in the August 2006 online journal Nature Genetics reported that chromosomal aberrations provide a way to determine the malignant potential of cancer over a broad range of tumors. Using data on gene expression (activity) from 18 previous studies of cancer, representing six cancer types, the scientists found that this genetic profile, or signature, predicted poor clinical outcome in 12 of the populations studied.