This publication combines and extends the now classic system of human cytogenetic nomenclature prepared by expert committees and published in collaboration with Cytogenetic and Genome Research (formerly: Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics) since 1963.

Revised and finalized by the ISCN Committee and its advisors at a meeting in Vancouver, BC, in December 2004, it updates, corrects and incorporates all previous human cytogenetic nomenclature recommendations into one systematically organized publication. It thus supersedes the previous compilations in ISCN 1985 and its supplement, ISCN 1991, the Guidelines for Cancer Cytogenetics, and ISCN 1995.