[Histonet] Automated IHC instrument

[Eddie Martin]

Hi Valerie,

Any platform would get the job done well.  They all offer reagent rental agreements too.  Dako and Leica would require the user to be a bit more knowledgeable of IHC protocols than starting a run on a Ventana analyzer.  Dako is semi-automated, whereas leica and ventana both have onboard retrieval, and reagent mixing of chromagen.  In terms of the most open system, Dako would be the best analyzer followed by Leica in second place.  Ventana does allow 3rd party antibodies to be run on it, but charge you a premium for open containers to run on their analyzer.

In terms of antibodies: this may be better chosen by your pathologist which may have an impact on which analyzer you will also get, but I can suggest to you my favorites.

Her2neu - all three vendors provide a good Her2neu clone. Dako’s Her2 sometimes doesn’t stain as well, so would be my least favorite of the 3. Ventana’s Her2 is the most widely used.

ER - all 3 vendors are also good.

PR - Dako and Novocastra have great PR clones.  Ventana’s PR clone is IVD as Dako and Novocastra Clone but is not ASCO-CAP approved antibody.  Ventana will push to say it is IVD, as Dako, and Novocastra (Leica), which is necessary for billing purposes, but their PR clone isn’t as effective as the other two i mentioned.

Ki67 - Dako’s MIB-1 clone is like the gold standard for Ki-67.  All three vendor versions work as intended.  Leica removed one of their two clone options last year, so k2 clone for Leica is your only option.  Ventana’s clone looks nicer in my opinion.

Hope this helps somehow.

Kind Regards,

Eddie Martin, HT(ASCP), QIHC, HTL
954-826-9403
Edmartin26 at gmail.com