Genetic diagnosis of patients with esophageal cancer using FISH

Fluorescent probe applications and prospects in gastrointestinal cancer: A bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

Gastrointestinal tumors, as one of the most common cancers worldwide, pose a significant threat to human health. In this context, the advent of fluorescence probe technology has offered new perspectives and methods for the diagnosis and surgical treatment of gastrointestinal tumors. However, there is currently a lack of systematic bibliometric analysis on the research concerning gastrointestinal cancer and fluorescence probes.

METHOD

This study retrieved and comprehensively analyzed 1816 documents from the Web of Science database using the Cite Space tool, exploring the spatiotemporal distribution, author and subject category distribution, research themes, and keywords in this field.

RESULTS

As of February 3, 2024, a total of 1816 records were retrieved, encompassing nine document types. Original research papers dominated the dataset, accounting for 89.922 %, followed by review articles at 6.773 %. We conducted a comprehensive analysis from various perspectives including countries, authors, institutions, keywords, journals, and references. Our findings reveal a strengthening trend in research on gastrointestinal cancer and fluorescent probes since 2010, with primary focus on drug delivery, endoscopy techniques, and genomic hybridization.

CONCLUSION

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the design, application, and quantitative analysis techniques of fluorescent probes, marking a notable frontier in this field. Our research findings offer fundamental insights and aid in identifying potential collaborators for future endeavors in this area.

CEP3 and CEP17 DNA probe potential in the genetic diagnosis and prognostic prediction of esophageal squamous cell cancer

The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical application of molecular pathological diagnosis for the prognosis of Kazakh patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) using centromere enumeration probes (CEPs) for chromosomes 3 and 17. A total of 40 patients with ESCC that had received radical surgical treatment and 10 healthy control participants were enrolled in the present study. Touch preparations of fresh cancerous and normal tissues were completed and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed to count the copy numbers of CEP 3 and 17, and abnormalities were analyzed, in comparison with routine pathological diagnoses. FISH analysis demonstrated that abnormal copy numbers of CEP 3 and 17 (aneuploidy) were detected in all 40 patients with ESCC. CEP 3 and 17 polyploidy rates differed significantly between poorly differentiated, moderately differentiated and well-differentiated ESCC groups (P<0.05): Well-differentiated, 35.38 and 30.92%; moderately differentiated, 55.81 and 44.43%; and poorly differentiated, 76.26 and 71.90%, respectively. Furthermore, polyploidy rates were significantly increased in the group with lymph node metastasis, as compared with the group without (CEP 3, P=0.0001; CEP 17, P=0.012). Variations in the copy numbers of CEP 3 and 17 were demonstrated to be correlated with the level of differentiation and lymph node metastasis in patients with ESCC. Therefore, the present results indicate that DNA probes may be used to predict prognostic factors in patients with ESCC. Furthermore, FISH technology is an objective and qualitative method that is capable of detecting variations in CEP 3 and 17; therefore, FISH may be used in the genetic diagnosis of ESCC in Kazakh patients.

Molecular pathological diagnosis for early esophageal cancer in Kazakh patients

Chromosome abnormalities in cancer cells occur early in carcinogenesis. We employed DNA probes for the detection of cancer cells in surgical specimens in Kazakh patients with suspected esophageal carcinoma, to analyze the application of this technique during the early diagnosis of esophageal cancer. Comparative analysis was used to compare the results of pathological diagnosis with the results of FISH. We performed esophagofiberscopic biopsy examinations in 50 Kazakh patients with suspected esophageal carcinoma, including 40 males and 10 females, with an average age of 56.8 years. The final diagnosis was esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in 47 patients, and adenocarcinoma, mucinous carcinoma and small cell carcinoma in one patient each. The pathological findings of the biopsy were positive in 45 cases, and false-negative in 5. The sensitivity and specificity of pathological diagnosis were 87.2 and 100%, respectively. Using FISH to examine the same tissues, we found that 48 cases showed aberrant copy numbers in either chromosome 3 or 17, and 2 cases were false-negative, with a sensitivity and specificity of 94.8 and 100%, respectively. The copy numbers of centromeres in chromosome 3 were significantly higher than the copy numbers of centromeres in chromosome 17 (P=0.0001). Compared with biopsy pathology, the FISH test was more sensitive. Being an objective and qualitative method, the technology of molecular pathological diagnosis may effectively increase the early diagnostic rate of esophageal cancer. In addition, the centromere probe in chromosome 3 may be the most sensitive probe for the diagnosis of esophageal cancer in Kazakh patients.