Certain malignancies have characteristic chromosome abnormalities. These can be chromosome deletions (the whole chromosome is absent or only a portion of a chromosome); additions (e.g., trisomy, when a third chromosome is present in a group that normally would consist of two); translocation, either single (where part of one chromosome breaks off and attaches to another) […]
Following microscopic diagnosis of malignancy, several questions immediately arise: Is it carcinoma, sarcoma, or lymphoma? If carcinoma, is it squamous or glandular (adenocarcinoma)? If sarcoma, what is the tissue of origin? Is it primary or metastatic? If metastatic, what is the primary site (site of origin)? In the majority of cases, the pathologist can differentiate […]
These tests measure the quantity of various antigens associated with cell proliferation, not the actual rate of proliferation. Except for FCM, measurement is done by applying immunohistologic stains on microscopic tissue sections; either fresh tissue or with some methods, preserved and paraffin-embedded tissue. An antigen-antibody reaction is seen under the microscope by a color reaction […]
FCM has until recently been predominantly used to phenotype leukemias and lymphomas and to aid in prognosis of nonhematologic tumors. Nonhematologic tumors In nonhematologic tumors, predominately aneuploid neoplasms (especially if the S-phase value is increased) generally are more aggressive and have shorter survival time than tumors that are predominantly diploid and have normal S-phase values. […]
Image analysis cytometry (IAC) combines some aspects of traditional visual morphology of cell nuclei with nuclear DNA analysis as done in FCM but using nonfluorescent visible nuclear stains. The instrument’s operator finds cancer cells on a tissue slide or smear and instructs the equipment’s computer to search for a certain number of tumor nuclei using […]
Considerably simplified, flow cytometry (FCM) counts and analyzes certain aspects of cells using instrumentation similar in principal to many current hematology cell-counting machines. If the cells to be analyzed come from solid tissue, the cells or cell nuclei must first be extracted from the tissue and suspended in fluid. Next, the cell nuclei are stained […]
