The ALK Breakapart probe consists of a green 420kb probe, which spans the majority of the ALK gene and a red 486kb probe, which is telomeric to the ALK gene.
Transforming rearrangements of the Anaplastic Lymphoma Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (ALK) gene at 2p23 have been recognised in a subset of human haematological and solid malignancies1.
ALK fuses with Nucleophosmin (NPM1) in anaplastic lymphoma, resulting in constitutive kinase activity, which inhibits apoptosis and promotes cellular proliferation2. The rearrangement of ALK has now also been implicated in the development of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) as a result of an inversion involving chromosome 2, inv(2)(p21p23), causing ALK to fuse with the EML4 gene2. The ALK gene is frequently involved in translocations of chromosome 2 that lead to gene fusions in a variety of different malignancies, including neuroblastomas and myofibroblastic tumours3.
In our hands, CytoCell FISH probes, including the ROS1 Proximal and ROS1 Distal probes, have proven to be of the highest quality with bright, easy to interpret signals, thus providing confidence in our results. OGT's customer support is outstanding, as their staff are extremely knowledgeable and truly care about their customers and their customers’ needs.
Jennie Thurston
Director of Cytogenetics, Carolinas Pathology Group, USA
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