HER-2/neu evaluation by fluorescence in situ hybridization on destained cytologic smears from primary and metastatic breast cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate HER-2/neu amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) (HER-2/neu by FISH) on archival cytologic smears stained with May-Grünwald-Giemsa (MGG) stain.


METHODS
Cytologic specimens from 69 breast cancer lesions (48 primary and 21 metastatic), stained with MGG stain for routine diagnostic cytology, were destained and subjected to HER-2/neu by FISH. Fifteen of the 69 samples were also evaluated by FISH on paired fresh smears.


RESULTS
HER-2/neu by FISH was successfully assayed in 25 of the 48 primary tumors and in 15 of the 21 metastatic lesions, corresponding to an overall feasibility of 58%. These cases had been archived between 1 month and 10 years prior to FISH analysis. Eight of the 25 primary and 5 of the 15 metastatic tumors were amplified. In 15 of the 40 evaluable cases, HER-2/neu was also assessed on the corresponding fresh smears: 8 tumors were amplified and 7 unamplified on both destained MGG and fresh smears.


CONCLUSIONS
HER-2/neu can be detected by FISH on routinely MGG-stained cytologic slides. This approach allows HER-2/neu evaluation whenever histologic sections or fresh cytologic material are not available. In these cases, HER-2/neu assessment on destained cytologic smears plays a role in the selection of targeted therapy.
Nizzoli
Rita
R
Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital, Parma, Italy. rnizzoli@ao.pr.it
Guazzi
Annamaria
A
Naldi
Nadia
N
Fraciosi
Vittorio
V
Bozzetti
Cecilia
C
D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D018734:Genes, erbB-2; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013194:Staining and Labeling