Biliary Tract Malignancy, FISH-994
Test info
Bile Duct Cytology
Bile Duct Stricture Malignancy, FISH
BILAO
Cholangiocarcinoma, FISH
Pancreatobiliary FISH
Assessing bile duct brushing or hepatobiliary brushing specimens for malignancy
Specimen
Bile duct aspirate
Hepatobiliary brushing
Hepatobiliary aspirate
- Place specimen in Cytolyt vial
- If the specimen is a brushing, submit the brush in the fixative
- Specimen should be placed in fixative vial immediately after collection
- Label with collection site/specific source
Specimen source is required
Refrigerated (preferred) - 3 weeks
- Fine-needle aspiration (FNA)
- Pancreatic mass
- Pancreatic cyst
Performance
Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH)
Clinical and Interpretive info
No abnormality detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization
An interpretive report will be provided
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is used to examine patients with biliary tract obstruction or stricture for possible malignancy. Biopsies and cytologic specimens are obtained at the time of ERCP. Cytologic analysis complements biopsy by sometimes detecting malignancy in patients with a negative biopsy. Nonetheless, a number of studies suggest that the overall sensitivity of bile duct brushing and bile aspirate cytology is quite low.
Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a technique that utilizes fluorescently labeled DNA probes to examine cells for chromosomal alterations. FISH can be used to detect cells with chromosomal changes (eg, aneuploidy) that are indicative of malignancy. Studies in our laboratory indicate that the sensitivity of FISH to detect malignant cells in biliary brush specimens is superior to that of conventional cytology.