Immunohist

Notes

Immunohistochemistry Prepared by Dr. Kurt SchabergLast updated: 9/17/2024 Fundamentals to Consider 1) Use it to support your morphologic/clinical impression Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is an adjunctive tool to help you support your diagnosis or offer predictive/prognostic information (not make the diagnosis for you! ;-). The results must be interpreted in their morphologic and clinical context. Always be wary of making too much of a diagnosis based solely on a stain—the morphology and clinical scenario should match too! 2) It’s a matter of probability, with nothing being absolute Staining, particularly when it comes to lineage, site, or differentiation, is essentially a matter of statistics. While most classic lung adenocarcinomas may stain with TTF1, many do not. Staining is best used to support or argue against a diagnosis—it seldom proves anything. Know the sensitivity and specificity for each specific clinical context, otherwise you’re just playing the lottery. 3) Will you say the same thing regardless? If you’re going to say the same thing regardless of a staining result—consider not doing the stain. It’s just going to add cost and potentially a conflicting result you’ll have t...