Dr. Kass on Testing for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Fred C. Kass, MD, oncology/hematology, internal medicine, Cancer Center of Santa Barbara, gives advice for community-based oncologists regarding HER2 testing and interpretation of the results.

Kass explains that fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is preferred in the oncology community versus immunohistochemistry (IHC)upfront. IHC is only used first, he adds, when the FISH results are unequivocal. If both FISH and IHC results are equivocal, then oncologists send specimens to a reference lab.

Oncologists concur that testing patients with FISH first is more reliable method, Kass says.