Immunohistochemistry is used to characterize various surface and intracellular proteins from cells of all tissues. Individual markers and more often panels of various marker proteins can be used to distinguish carcinoma from sarcoma or lymphoma, mesothelioma or melanoma, characterize various tumor subtypes, confirm tissue of origin, help distinguish metastatic from primary tumor and provide additional information about tumors, which may be important for staging, prognosis, predicting response to therapy or evaluating for residual tumor post treatment. The most common panel is one used for breast cancer patients to determine hormone receptor expression and other markers that predict response to certain therapies and determine risk of recurrence to assist in treatment decisions such as surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
Common breast cancer prognostic and therapeutic markers used include:
These markers may be ordered individually or in various combinations at the physician’s request.
Breast Cancer Panels with reflex options are also available. See test requisitions on this website.
For additional antibodies, refer to our Antibody Library.
CPT Codes:
88360 (per antibody tested)
Specimen Requirements:
Please Note: To comply with the new HER2 guidelines, only formalin-fixed tissue samples will be accepted for HER2 IHC and FISH testing. Time to tumor fixation should be as soon as possible and time of fixation should be for 6-48 hours.
>- Fixed Paraffin Block with Corresponding H&E:
- Tissue should be well-fixed in formalin. If alternative fixative is used, it should be noted on the requisition.
- 0.2 cm x 0.2 cm x 0.2 cm tissue.
- Store specimen at room temperature (20-23.5° C).
- Use cold pack for transport. Be sure cold pack is not in direct contact with specimen during transport.
- Unstained Slides:
- Send all slides within 6 weeks of cutting.
- Minimum of 4 slides per antibody.
- Precut slides from paraffin blocks in 5 micron sections.
- Mount on Poly-L-Lysine-coated or plus (+) slides.
- Air dry. Do not oven dry.
- Store specimen at room temperature (20-23.5° C).
- Stained Slides:
- Only H&E or Papanicolaou-stained slides are acceptable.
4. Body Fluids:
- Process fluids into formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded cell blocks or cytospin preparation.
Turnaround Time:
2-3 days
Client Services:
Oncology/Pathology
800-447-5816
Specimen Services/Pickup:
877-246-1226