Detection of numerical aberration in chromosome 17 and c-erbB2 gene amplification in epithelial ovarian cancer using recently established dual color FISH

This paper presents a new dual color FISH technique that will allow the use of cell specimens isolated from formaldehyde-fixed and paraffin-embedded ( F-P) tissues. The new FISH method was used to examine numerical aberration in chromosome 17 and c-erbB2 gene amplification in 26 F-P epithelial ovaria n cancer tissues. Numerical aberration of chromosome 17 appears frequently in clear cell adenocarcinoma. The frequency of amplification of the c-erbB2 gene in stage III and IV cases was significantly higher than in stage I ca ses. The FISH technique as established here may serve as a molecular tool f or examination of clinico-pathological significance in F-P tissues.