Section E6.5–6.8 of the ACMG technical standards and guidelines: chromosome studies of lymph node and solid tumor–acquired chromosomal abnormalities

Linda D. Cooley, Cynthia C. Morton, Warren G. Sanger, Debra F. Saxe, Fady M. Mikhail

Disclaimer: These ACMG standards and guidelines are developed primarily as an educational resource for clinical laboratory geneticists to help them provide quality clinical laboratory genetic services. Adherence to these standards and guidelines is voluntary and does not necessarily ensure a successful medical outcome. These standards and guidelines should not be considered inclusive of all proper procedures and tests or exclusive of other procedures and tests that are reasonably directed to obtaining the same results. In determining the propriety of any specific procedure or test, the clinical laboratory geneticist should apply his or her own professional judgment to the specific circumstances presented by the individual patient or specimen. Clinical laboratory geneticists are encouraged to document in the patient's record the rationale for the use of a particular procedure or test, whether or not it is in conformance with these standards and guidelines. They also are advised to take notice of the date any particular guideline was adopted, and to consider other relevant medical and scientific information that becomes available after that date. It also would be prudent to consider whether intellectual property interests may restrict the performance of certain tests and other procedures.Cytogenetic analysis of tumor tissue is performed to detect and characterize chromosomal aberrations to aid histopathological and clinical diagnosis and patient management. At the time of diagnosis, known recurrent clonal aberrations may facilitate histopathological diagnosis and subtyping of the tumor. This information may contribute to clinical therapeutic decisions. However, even when tumors have a known recurrent clonal aberration, each tumor is genetically unique and probably heterogeneous. It is important to discover as much about the genetics of a tumor at diagnosis as is possible with the methods available for study of the tumor material. The information gathered at initial study will inform follow-up studies, whether for residual disease detection, determination of relapse and clonal evolution, or identifying a new disease clone.This updated Section E6.5-6.8 has been incorporated into and supersedes the previous Sections E6.4 and E6.5 in Section E: Clinical Cytogenetics of the 2009 Edition (Revised 01/2010), American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics Standards and Guidelines for Clinical Genetics Laboratories. This section deals specifically with the standards and guidelines applicable to lymph node and solid tumor chromosome analysis.Genet Med advance online publication 28 April 2016Genetics in Medicine (2016); doi:10.1038/gim.2016.51.