Microarray techniques in pathology: tool or toy?

Microarray technology allows the simultaneous analysis of up to thousands o f different genes in histological or cytological. specimens. Although micro array technology has so far mainly been applied in the research setting, it s clinical application in pathology is expected in the foreseeable future. This paper presents an overview of the technical "ins and outs" of microarr ay technology, and discusses several putative applications in diagnostic pa thology, which include tumour classification, the prediction of responses t o certain chemotherapeutical or hormonal agents, the biological staging of tumours, the risk assessment of premalignant lesions, and the detection of microorganisms.