Use of Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) in Diagnosis and Tailored Therapies in Solid Tumors.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a standard technique used in routine diagnostics of genetic aberrations. Thanks to simple FISH procedure is possible to recognize tumor-specific abnormality. Its applications are limited to designed probe type. Gene rearrangements e.g., , reflecting numerous translocational partners, deletions of critical regions e.g., 1p and 19q, gene fusions e.g., , genomic imbalances e.g., 6p, 6q, 11q and amplifications e.g., are targets in personalized oncology. Confirmation of genetic marker is frequently a direct indication to start specific, targeted treatment. In other cases, detected aberration helps pathologists to better distinguish soft tissue sarcomas, or to state a final diagnosis. Our main goal is to show that applying FISH to formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sample (FFPE) enables assessing genomic status in the population of cells deriving from a primary tumor or metastasis. Although many more sophisticated techniques are available, like Real-Time PCR or new generation sequencing, FISH remains a commonly used method in many genetic laboratories.