Fluorescent in situ hybridization assessment of chromosome 7 copy number in uncultured lung and kidney cells.

Trisomy 7 is common in cells cultured from nonneoplastic lung and kidney tissues, but the frequency of trisomy 7 in uncultured lung and kidney has not been determined. In this study, we used fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to assess chromosome 7 copy number in uncultured interphase nuclei from lung and kidney specimens. All specimens had low level mosaicism for trisomy 7(1.5-5.25%), but control experiments indicated a potential wide margin of error in quantifying these events.