IHC: Stain or Assay?

Since its inception, immunohistochemistry (IHC) has been called a “stain” principally because of its origin as a byproduct of traditional histochemistry. Simply, a tool to identify specific targets in cells and tissues that could not be distinguished by traditional morphologic or histochemical techniques. There is a great deal of controversy surrounding this notion. A recent editorial by B. Magnani and C. Taylor has brought the issue back to forefront of the histopathology community. Over the last 25 years, IHC has evolved into a complex testing modality. IHC has developed into a “test” that requires both qualitative AND quantitative interpretation, ushering in the era of companion diagnostics. Unfortunately, IHC test quality assurance is still grounded in subjective pass/fail interpretation based on non-standardized control tissues that are insensitive and irreproducible. The major obstacle has been the lack of appropriate tools to assess assay performance during the analytical phase, similar to what is done in clinical pathology laboratories. However, IHC calibration technology is now available that can establish analytical standardization that will help address both interpretive and technical errors, perhaps providing a means to better understand pre- and post-analytical phases. This presentation will introduce the concept of analytical reference standards for immunohistochemistry, provide some examples of the different technology as well as examples of their use.

Objectives:

1) Understand what are analytical reference standards for immunohistochemistry
2) Explain how these standards can be used to make IHC more rigorous
3) Show why analytical reference standards for immunohistochemistry are important
4) Provide some examples of analytical reference standards and their use

Faculty

Luis Chiriboga, PhD, HT(ASCP)QIHC is an Assistant Professor of Pathology and the Director of Histology and Immunohistochemistry for the Center of Biospecimen Research and Development, a CAP accredited biorepository at NYU Langone Health and NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He is an Associate professor of Medical Laboratory Sciences at the City University of New York Hunter College School of Health Sciences. Luis is the 2023 Histotech of the Year and a current member of the National Society for Histotechnology Board of Directors.

Webinar Details

December 6, 2023 ** 2:00pm - 3:00pm
This webinar is FREE for NSH members and $10.00 (nonrefundable) for non members.
Space is limited and preregistration is required.

Any questions please contact the NSH Office, 443-535-4060 or histo@nsh.org.