Chromogenic In Situ Hybridization and FISH in Pathology

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technologies enable rapid detection of chromosome aberrations in all manner of tissues, including both fresh and archival specimens. These technologies have gained broad acceptance in the clinical cytogenetic and research communities. However, these same methods are used less frequently by noncytogenetic diagnostic pathology services. This is, in part, because FISH imaging equipment is not universally available to the diagnosticians (surgical pathologists) responsible for histological diagnoses. Therefore, it is gratifying that various improvements in ISH probes and detection protocols, particularly over the past five years, have enabled routine evaluation of enzymatic ISH by light microscopy.