Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) studies were carried out on interphase nuclei of 15 ovarian tumors. Thin sections of paraffin-embedded archival tumor material and slides prepared from tumor cell suspensions were comparatively examined for chromosomal aneusomies using chromosome specific alphoid DNA probes. While the detection of hyposomies was less reliable in the paraffin material than in classical cytogenetic slides, hypersomies were detected more readily in the former. The practical advantages of interphase cytogenetics on histologic slides, however, under certain aspects may outweigh the technical shortcomings of FISH analyses on this material, particularly, if new methods combine the merits of both, classical cytogenetic preparation and thin section, and reduce the present methodological problems.

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