In this single center retrospective analysis on 102 CLL patients, we assessed analytical and clinical performance of CMA against a targeted FISH panel (ATM, TP53, CEP12, D13S319 and LAMP1 loci) and karyotyping. CMA yielded additional information compared to karyotype in 39 cases (38 %). On the other hand, while CMA detected aberrations were also detected by FISH in all 31 cases (30 %), aberrations with low clonal size (<30 %) detected by FISH were missed by CMA. When evaluated with National Cancer Center Network (NCCN) guidelines, the capture rate of prognostic relevant cytogenetic information for FISH only, FISH + Chromosomes and FISH + CMA analyses were 95, 96 and 100 % respectively. With Cancer Cytogenomics Consortium (CGC) Criteria, these figures for FISH only, FISH + Chromosomes and FISH + CMA were 88 %, 92 and 100 % respectively. In conclusion, CMA provides additional analytical information to FISH and karyotyping, but this information has a clinical utility only in a small number of patients. Limit of detection (LOD) issues preclude replacement of FISH by CMA, but CMA may be a viable alternative to karyotyping. Further research is warranted.
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