Abstract
Cytogenetics or the study of chromosomes has been an important tool in oncology. It localizes the abnormality on a particular chromosome segment as such but, the molecular analysis on the other hand focuses the exact gene of interest. Hence both are complimentary. Classical cytogenetics in combination with recent molecular techniques has given rise to various molecular cytogenetic analytical techniques such as florescent in-situ hybridization (FISH), spectral karyotyping (SKY) and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). The role of telomeres and its concerned enzyme telomerase is important in carcinogenesis. This article summarizes the various cytogenetic techniques and presents an overall view of the importance of cytogenetcs in head and neck cancer.