This test is done to detect a condition known as Follicular Lymphoma.

The fish method is used for it.

Follicular Lymphoma:

It is a type of cancer that is slow growing and affects the lymph nodes and bone marrow.

Symptoms seen are:

• Painless swelling in the neck
• Painless swelling in the armpit
• loss of weight
• chills
• sweating
• Tiredness

Stages of Follicular Lymphoma:

Stage 1:

• Present in one lymph

Stage 2:

• Present below diaphragm

Stage 3:

• Present on both sides of the diaphragm

Stage 4:

• Present in bone marrow

Use of FISH test

Fish is a sort of genetic test that detects the abnormalities which are related to genes or genetics in the plasma cells which are found in the bone marrow.

What does the FISH test mean?

 FISH means fluorescence in situ hybridisation. It is defined as a test that is related to gene changes in cells. Genes are that which DNA makes. It is a test that helps to detect if the cancer ( mainly breast cancer) of a patient is either positive or negative.

What are hematological malignancies? Hematological malignancies are a bunch of diseases that are characterised by a range of genetic markers which have diagnostic and prognostic significance. In the recent era, fluorescent in situ hybridisation is said to be a reliable and rapid complementary test that helps in targeting critical genetic tests associated with diagnostic and prognostic hematological malignancies.

Uses of the FISH test

Genetic markers are used for estimating hematological malignancies. The high-level studies say that FISH ( Fluorescence in situ hybridisation) testing converts into a popular modality that targets abnormalities in mitotic cells.

The procedure of this test

In this test, a complete set of chromosomes from a patient is stuck to a glass slide and then appears on a probe ( it is a small piece of DNA tagged with fluorescent dye.) The amount of DNA finds and then binds to its same sequence within the set of chromosomes. With the help of a perfect special microscope, the location of chromosomes and sub-chromosomes can be found where the fluorescent probe bound can be seen.

For 24 hours, the samples are cultured before they are used for hybridizing with the probes. After that, probes are washed, and the slides are analyzed under a particular type of microscope equipped with epifluorescence and an appropriate filter set. Diagnosis, or a result, is taken out by the two professional technologists,  and then the result is reviewed by both the laboratory manager and the head of the laboratory. If the abnormalities are found, then they correlate to chromosomal findings with phenotype.