Current applications of molecular cytogenetic technologies

This review discusses select current applications of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) which may be of utility for the average clinical cytogenetic laboratory. Owing to the large number of men and women affected, the applications chosen to illustrate the use of FISH technology in cancer focus on two diseases : breast cancer and prostate cancer. The applicability of FISH to detect common aneuploidies, such as trisomy 21, trisomy 18, trisomy 13 and the sex chromosome aneuploidies in prenatal diagnosis, is discussed, as well as FISH for the detection of microdeletions and microduplications. Quality assurance/quality control issues and standards and guidelines relating to laboratory practices in molecular cytogenetic testing are reviewed.