FISH ratio?

[duga35]

I just got the resuts back from the FISH test and the ratio was 4.31.

Is that bad?

[Lolly]

Doug, the FISH test looks at how many copies of the HER2 gene are in the tissue sample; normally we have 2 copies of each gene, but us HER2+'s have extra. Your result shows that the sample they looked at had at 4+ copies. It means you are indeed highly positive for HER2 and if you need Herceptin down the road you would be eligible based on your FISH score. Here's a link to a page on the Test's and Treatments board which may help explain IHC(looks at how many HER2 receptors are on the surface of a cell) and FISH(goes into the DNA and looks at the genes).
I think it's a lot more complicated than I can explain!

FISH and IHC
http://www.her2support.org/her2fish.pdf