E. Leuschner et al., FLUORESCENCE IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION STUDIES ON BREAST-TUMOR SAMPLES FOR DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN DIFFERENT SUBSETS OF BREAST-CANCER, Acta cytologica, 40(2), 1996, pp. 151-157
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate fluorescence in situ hybridization for distingu
ishing between malignant and benign breast tumors and determining gene
tic subgroups of breast cancers. STUDY DESIGN: Touch preparations from
94 surgically removed breast tumors (17 benign and 77 malignant) were
hybridized with a DNA probe specific for centromeric DNA sequences of
chromosome 1. Twenty samples were additionally hybridized with a chro
mosome 9-specific probe. RESULTS: We investigated the heterogeneity of
the cell populations on the basis of the number of signals per nucleu
s. All benign tumors showed two signals per nucleus. In contrast, carc
inomas revealed a broad spectrum of hybridization patterns. Some showe
d almost exclusively two signals per nucleus, and others exceeded four
signals. CONCLUSION: The hybridization patterns of individual tumors
can be used for defining different subsets of breast cancer. The resul
ts may have prognostic impact, leading to ''molecular-cytogenetic grad
ing'' of breast cancer.