[Histonet] IHC control blocks

Mon Oct 9 17:08:50 CDT 2006

Sherri,
I am sorry you took my statement as an insult I did not mean that not using
your own clinical controls made you any less knowledgeable, I thought that
you were perhaps from a clinical setting and was concerned about the results
compared to your tissue processing ( my concern was what was best for the
patient) if you had a control tissue from outside that was optimally fixed
and processed for that antibody and for some reason your in house patient
tissue was not, you could possible get a false negative and think it was
real because your control tissue worked.
One of the very reasons we have the NSH IHC control tissue bank is for
"research" just like you are doing and for really hard to find IHC control
tissues.  We always say that what ever tissue block we send out has to be
tested in your environment, we do not validate our tissues in the bank.
Please do join the IHCRG, I am sure you will find this group very helpful
and happy to share controls or any other resources we have.
Best regards,
Patsy  

-----Original Message-----
From: Sherri Anderson [mailto:specialstainsqueen <@t> hotmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 12:41 PM
To: pruegg <@t> ihctech.net; Rcartun <@t> harthosp.org;
histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: RE: [Histonet] IHC control blocks

Thanks to everyone for their input.  I appreciate the information that was 
provided.

To answer Richard's question, I do not work in a clinical hospital 
laboratory; therefore, I do not have access to a variety of human control 
tissues.  I simply want to validate my own antibody preparations for a 
project I am researching.  I totally understand what you (and others) are 
saying about preparing one's own control tissue -- and if I were able to do 
so, I certainly would.  Not only would it be more cost efficient, but it 
would also be more "standardized" since I would be the person doing the 
processing.  I agree with that.

With regards to a subsequent email that questioned whether or not I should 
actually be doing the test(s) at all just because I'm looking to purchase 
control blocks, that's a little insulting.  A lot of people purchase control

slides for special stains and immunos -- should they not be running those 
stains just because they don't make their own controls?  Why does NSH have 
an IHC control tissue bank then if that is the case?  How does purchasing 
controls from a company or lab that specifically sells such a product 
somehow rob me of the knowledge, skill, and expertise necessary to conduct 
the test?  I have made my own monoclonal antibodies in the past via 
hybridoma production -- does that fact make me any better or more qualified 
at running an IHC test than someone who purchases their antibodies?  No, it 
doesn't.

Anyway, thanks again for the responses.  I am also very grateful for the 
offers that I received to trade blocks with some labs, but I really don't 
have much to trade at this point...and what I do have, I actually need for 
myself (i.e. I don't have much to spare).  I got a couple of suggestions for

companies that actually sell control blocks, so I will look into that.  
Thanks again.

Sherri

>From: "Patsy Ruegg" <pruegg <@t> ihctech.net>
>To: "'Richard Cartun'" <Rcartun <@t> harthosp.org>,        "'Sherri Anderson'" 
><specialstainsqueen <@t> hotmail.com>,        
><histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
>Subject: RE: [Histonet] IHC control blocks
>Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 10:06:21 -0600
>
>Good point Richard.
>If you don't have the control tissue in house perhaps you should not be
>doing the test????/
>Patsy
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Richard
>Cartun
>Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 9:25 AM
>To: Sherri Anderson; histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>Subject: Re: [Histonet] IHC control blocks
>
>Hi Sherri:
>
>Do you work in a hospital laboratory?  If so, you really should prepare
>your own control blocks from tissue that you have on site.  I am not a
>proponent of using someone else's tissue (that has been fixed and
>processed differently) for control purposes.
>
>Richard
>
>Richard W. Cartun, Ph.D.
>Director, Immunopathology & Histology
>Assistant Director, Anatomic Pathology
>Hartford Hospital
>80 Seymour Street
>Hartford, CT  06102
>(860) 545-1596
>(860) 545-0174 Fax
>
> >>> "Sherri Anderson" <specialstainsqueen <@t> hotmail.com> 10/09/06 10:22
>AM >>>
>Good morning everyone!  Does anyone know of a company that sells
>control
>blocks for IHC?  I'm looking for blocks rather than slides because 1) I
>can
>cut my own slides and 2) in the long run, the blocks would probably end
>up
>being more cost efficient.  Does anyone know of such a company?  I did
>a
>quick search on the web but didn't come up with anything.  I'm just
>looking
>for controls for some of the more "routine" antibodies:  actin, CEA,
>cytokeratin, AFP, desmin, GFAP, S-100, chromogranin, PSA, etc.
>
>Thanks for any feedback!
>
>Sherri
>
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