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gogogo
Jener8er, don't panic!
The report on my FISH analysis states, "...Because signal counting is performed by the Metasystems instrument, the mean number of signals refers to signals per "computer tile" rather than tumor cell. The number of cells per tile varies as a function of tumor cell density and cell size."
My report shows the Mean Number of signals of Her-2/neu in my sample to be 19.4 signals. But the lab that performed the FISH on my sample looks at the HER2 factor in two ways; the above mentioned number of signals per computer tile, and also by looking at the number of signals on chromosome 17. The lab then reports the FISH positivity as a ratio of HER-2/neu signals to CEP-17 signals, and in my case it was then 4.26.
So I think the question for you is, did the lab that performed the FISH on your sample use only one point of reference and report your FISH as the Mean Number of signals, which could give you an seemingly high degree of FISH positivity, when in reality it would simply be showing the number of signals on the tile which according to the explanation above can be variable depending on how many cells are on that particular tile. If you can't decipher this from the report, see if the phone number of the lab is noted on the report, they often are, and give them a call asking for an explanation. I've found labs to be very helpful that way, but they may ask you to sign a release of information form first. If they're out of your area, they can fax the form to you and you can fax it back, to speed things up.
Good luck, and again, don't panic...
<3 Lolly
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