Date of Graduation

2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

Committee Chair

Sharon L. Wenger

Abstract

The use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has been shown to be efficacious in the evaluation of urine specimens from patients with a history of urothelial neoplasia. To explore a new clinical setting, we performed a prospective study using sequential urine specimens from patients without a previous history of urothelial neoplasia. The FISH probe set included centromere enumeration probes for chromosomes 3, 7, and 17, and a cosmid probe 9p21, which contains the p16 tumor suppressor gene. A total of 113 urine specimens were tested. Genetic changes associated with urothelial neoplasia were identified in 5% of the negative and in 15% of the atypical urine cytologies. Therefore, combined FISH and urine cytology evaluations have the potential to provide independent diagnostic information over cytologic evaluation alone. Further study is necessary to determine the clinical implications of these genetic changes over time.

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