A set of commercially available fluorescent in-situ hybridization probes efficiently detects cytogenetic abnormalities in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Abstract

To investigate a simplified panel of fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) probes for evaluation of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and to correlate results from this technique with known prognostic factors. We retrospectively reviewed the FISH and conventional cytogenetic results, and clinical and laboratory data of 44 patients with CLL. FISH was more sensitive than conventional cytogenetics in detecting genomic aberrations (75% vs. 16%, P < 0.0001). Trisomy 12 was significantly correlated with the cell surface marker of CD38 expression (P = 0.0017). This FISH panel reliably detects prognostically important genomic abnormalities in CLL and is suitable for widespread use.