Objective: To derive an equation to compensate for the discrepancies between whole cell preparations and tissue sections for more accurate enumeration of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) signals per cell.
Study design: Mean centromere signal counts in touch preparations and corresponding 4-6-micron sections of paraffin-embedded tissue were calculated. Mean widest nuclear diameters were also determined from the tissue sections. The observed data were analyzed to define the volumetric relationships between tissue sections and whole cell preparations.
Results: Analysis of results from six lung specimens yielded an equation that approximates whole versus sectioned nuclear volume and permits accurate quantification of mean FISH signal count in histologic sections, as follows: [formula: see text].