[Histonet] Immuno Controls

[Sate Hamza]

Greetings everyone ..

I am a pathologist and I do not feel I miss much by not having a control on
each slide. We use Dako immunostainers. The reality is that there are
internal positive controls for many antibodies on many of the tissues that
we test daily for diagnostic purposes .. Evaluation of the staining pattern
(or lack thereof) with some antibody helps me know in most instances whether
to believe the negative tissue immunoreaction or not ... Now I know that
does not apply to all antibodies, but it does for most of the ones that we
use daily .. So I am not sure that the extra effort and cost to have a
separate positive control tissue on each and every slide for each and every
antibody is justifiable..

Sate

On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 4:29 PM, Dana Spears <dspears <@t> mmci.org> wrote:

> Histonetters,
>
> In my opinion, it is always better for patient safety to have the control
> and the patient tissue on the same slide - no matter what platform you are
> running (or even if you were running them manually!).  I've used BioGenex,
> DAKO, Ventana, and manual methods and I feel it is better for the patient
> AND cheaper if the control is on the same slide.    No matter how you are
> running your IHCs, there is the slight possibility that the instrument could
> falter or you could forget to apply a reagent to a particular slide - better
> to have the control on there and you KNOW it worked.  Sure, there is the
> argument that you go through more control blocks, but if you align your
> chuck every time and are careful, that additional tissue is a small price to
> pay for better patient care!!!
>
>
>
> Dana Spears, HTL(ASCP)
> Anatomic Pathology Manager
> Methodist Medical Center
> (309) 672-4930 (office)
> (309) 255-7214 (cell)
> dspears <@t> mmci.org
>
> >>> "Mark A Burton" <mburton1 <@t> bu.edu> 5/29/2008 3:15 PM >>>
>
> I'm sure this discussion must be in the archives but my understanding of
> how
> the Ventana Benchmark works is that there is a plunger that presses on a
> dispenser bottle to deliver the antibodies and reagents to the slide. If
> the
> dispenser bottle is not primed or if there is some type of interference
> than
> you would not get any antibody or reagent delivered to your slide. Without
> a
> control on each slide, there is no way to know. Is this a legitimate
> argument? or is the amount of time and tissue needed to accomplish this too
> costly?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Rene J
> Buesa
> Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 3:30 PM
> To: Happel, James F.; Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> Subject: Re: [Histonet] Immuno Controls
>
> I used the DAKO autostainer and the cases' sections were placed in slides
> already containing a tissue control section in a way that both were
> "stained" simultaneously.
>  I only used one single control for a whole series of cases when doing
> Her2neu, or for research studies for our residents.
>  René J.
>
>


-- 
Sate Hamza, MD, FRCPC
Dermatopathologist
Winnipeg, Canada