Detection of heterozygosity loss in microdissected fine needle aspiration specimens of breast carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
To use the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in microdissected cells form cytologic smears obtained by fine needle aspiration (FNA) from 20 cases of invasive breast carcinoma.


METHODS
In each case, histologic sections of the primary tumor were also available. Tumor and nontumor cells were dissected from both the cytologic smear and tissue section in all cases except in three smears that showed only tumor cells.


RESULTS
LOH was identified in 10 of 19 informative cases using two polymorphic DNA markers at chromosome 11q13 (INT-2, PYGM). The same results were obtained in both the cytologic and histologic specimens, including three cases that had hypocellular cytologic smears.


CONCLUSIONS
FNA of breast lesions provides adequate samples for direct microdissection of the cytologic smear to detect LOH using PCR amplification.
Chuaqui
R
R
Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
Vargas
M P
MP
Castiglioni
T
T
Elsner
B
B
Zhuang
Z
Z
Emmert-Buck
M
M
Merino
M J
MJ
D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002880:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11; D017931:DNA Primers; D004210:Dissection / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D017931:DNA Primers; D005819:Genetic Markers