Assessing bile duct brushing or hepatobiliary brushing specimens for malignancy.
Specimen source is required.
Refrigerated (preferred) - 3 weeks
Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH)
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.