Coexistence of several unbalanced translocations in a case of neuroblastoma: The contribution of multicolor spectral karyotyping

Spectral karyotyping (SKY) is based on the simultaneous hybridization of a set of 24 chromosome-specific DNA painting probes, each labeled with a diff erent fluor combination. Automatic classification, based on the measurement of the spectrum for each chromosome, was applied to metaphases obtained fr om the affected bone marrow of a neuroblastoma case. Spectral karyotyping a llowed the identification of chromosomal aberrations that could not be iden tified by the use of the G-banding technique, and revealed a number of gain s and unbalanced translocations. (C) Elsevier Science, Inc., 1999. All righ ts reserved.