Diagnostic IHC Markers
IHC is an excellent detection technique and has the tremendous advantage of being able to show exactly where a given protein is located within the tissue examined. It is also an effective way to examine the tissues .This has made it a widely used technique in the neurosciences, enabling researchers to examine protein expression within specific brain structures. Its major disadvantage is that, unlike immunoblotting techniques where staining is checked against a molecular weight ladder, it is impossible to show in IHC that the staining corresponds with the protein of interest. For this reason, primary antibodies must be well-validated in a Western Blot or similar procedure. The technique is even more widely used in diagnostic surgical pathology for typing tumors (e.g. immunostaining for e-cadherin to differentiate between DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ: stains positive) and LCIS (lobular carcinoma in situ: does not stain positive)).
- Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA): used for identification of adenocarcinomas. Not specific for site.
- Cytokeratins: used for identification of carcinomas but may also be expressed in some sarcomas.
- CD15 and CD30 : used for Hodgkin's disease
- Alpha fetoprotein: for yolk sac tumors and hepatocellular carcinoma
- CD117 (KIT): for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST)
- CD10 (CALLA): for renal cell carcinoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia
- Prostate specific antigen (PSA): for prostate cancer
- estrogens and progesterone staining for tumour identification
- Identification of B-cell lymphomas using CD20
- Identification of T-cell lymphomas using CD3
Read more about this topic: Immunohistochemistry