We used a histopathological-fluorescence in situ hybridization (histo-FISH) parallel examination technique to identify the micro-foci of prostate cancer with chromosome 8p deletion at the interface area adjacent to the tumor. The archival paraffin embedded prostate tissue sections from 27 prostate cancer patients were evaluated. Seventy-eight percent of the patients showed chromosome 8p deletion in the tumor sections. Eight of the 27 patients (30%) had been found positive for tumor micro-foci with chromosome 8p deletion at the tumor interface area. There is a strong trend for patients with late stage tumors to have positive findings for tumor micro-foci at the interface area (p<0.002). Our data suggests that the formation of tumor micro-foci with chromosome 8p deletion and ploidy change at the interface area is a significant development in the advanced prostate cancer, and identification of these micro-foci may serve as a prognostic parameter in the clinical assessment of prostate cancer patients.

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