Do we need to do fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis in myelodysplastic syndromes as often as we do?
Although conventional cytogenetics is considered the gold standard to detect chromosomal abnormalities in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is being increasingly used additionally. However, the real contribution of FISH analysis in the cytogenetic diagnosis of MDS has not been well defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether FISH studies are able to reveal chromosomal abnormalities in MDS patients undetected by conventional cytogenetics. One hundred seventy-four FISH studies were performed on bone marrow samples of 60 patients with MDS. The number of FISH studies in each patient was variable (1-5). FISH studies confirmed the G-banding cytogenetic findings in 99.4% (153/154) of samples and detected cytogenetic abnormalities in 25% (5/20) of cases in which the conventional cytognetic study failed. These results indicate that FISH studies provide relevant information in MSD in which the conventional cytogenetic analysis was unsuccessful but add little value to a normal katyotype in conventional cytogenetic analysis.
Hematopathology Section, Hospital Clínic, Villarroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. dcosta@clinic.ub.es
Dolors
D
Costa
Sandra
S
Valera
Ana
A
Carrió
Amparo
A
Arias
Concha
C
Muñoz
María
M
Rozman
Mohamed
M
Belkaid
Rita
R
Coutinho
Benet
B
Nomdedeu
Elias
E
Campo
D001856:Bone Marrow Examination; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D002871:Chromosome Banding; D020732:Cytogenetic Analysis / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*