| Abstrakt: |
The discipline of hematopathology traditionally relies upon morphologic evaluation, cytochemical stains, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and karyotypic analysis to classify hematolymphoid neoplasms. Although these time-honored methods still comprise the primary diagnostic arsenal of the pathologist, the last few decades have borne witness to the widespread acceptance of molecular techniques to classify these neoplasms. No longer considered ancillary, molecular analyses have led to a greater understanding of the biological and clinical heterogeneity of hematolymphoid neoplasms, and now form the primary diagnostic criteria for many diagnoses as set forth by the World Health Organization [1]. They also provide extremely sensitive and specific methods for prognostic marker detection and minimal residual disease monitoring. These techniques have evolved rapidly over the last decade from Southern blot and hybridization assays to polymerase chain reaction and its variants to gene expression profiling and single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis, and more recently to microarray technology and whole-genome analysis. Despite technological advancements, molecular techniques are critically dependent upon the nature of nucleic acids retrieved from the specimen. Results cannot be correctly interpreted if the quantity and/or the integrity of nucleic acids are not optimal for the desired molecular application. As such, the purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, issues pertaining to specimen collection, handling and processing, and nucleic acid extraction, stability, and storage are reviewed. Second, molecular techniques commonly utilized in hematopathology are reviewed. Cytogenetics, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), and microarray techniques are discussed in Chapter 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
