Interphase FISH as a new tool in tumor pathology

Interphase FISH (IFISH) analysis is an intriguing molecular cytogenetic approach to study chromosome abnormalities in cancer. IFISH is a high sensitivity technique because of its ability to identify aberrations on a cell-to-cell level. The possibility to perform IFISH on different types of nuclei obtained both from fresh and archived samples, makes this technique an advantageous method to identify specific chromosome aberrations in cancer and correlate them to prognosis and therapy. The aim of this review is to outline the technical aspects, the sensitivity and specificity and the current strategies for employment of IFISH in tumor pathology, and to discuss the enormous range of novel applications.