Detection of chromosomal abnormalities with different in situ hybridisation techniques - The usefulness in the qualification of cancer patients for molecularly-targeted therapies

Abstract

Proper qualification of patients with cancer for an effective treatment regiment is essential to rationalize therapy benefit and costs. The early detection of genetic disorders that are responsible for the stimulation of uncontrolled cancer cells proliferation makes it possible to select a group of patients with a high probability of response to molec-ularly-targeted therapy. Data has shown that careful analysis of genes mutation using different PCR and sequencing techniques or chromosomal aberrations using in situ hybridization (ISH) techniques have a predictive value for drug targeted therapy. Overexpression of receptors and gene amplification has been reported in various cancers. Their detection is still a considerable challenge, which is connected with the unsatisfactory quality of DNA and low mutated cells percentage compared to cells with no genetic abnormalities in tested material. Different techniques of standardization were performed to prevent false negative results and to increase the sensitivity of qualitative and quantitative evaluation of chromosomal abnormalities. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique is useful in the screening of receptor expression in paraffin-embedded tissue samples in different malignant diseases. Whereas ISH techniques, especially fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), are now considered the diagnostic gold standard method in detection chromosomal aberrations. Moreover, molecular biology techniques, which are using molecular probes and real-time PCR and quantitative PCR techniques, were also applied for the detection of chromosomal changes. In order to identify the best genetic marker for treatment regiment, it is important to compare results of different studies, which are evaluating the sensitivity of diagnostic techniques and treatment response after a suitable selection factors based on genetic aberrations profile.