Abstract

BLANCO SANTANA, Rancés; CEDENO ARIAS, Mercedes  and  RENGIFO CALZADO, Enrique. Immunohistochemical detection of the epidermal growth factor receptor: review of some related technical aspects. Rev Cubana Invest Bioméd [online]. 2013, vol.32, n.2, pp. 230-242. ISSN 0864-0300.

Background: In recent years, immunohistochemistry (IHC) has become the most widely used method in determining the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The lack of control of some technical aspects during their determination in formaldehyde fixed and paraffin embedded tissue such as tissue fixation and sample processing, the choice of a suitable antigen retrieval method, the use of different anti-EGFR antibodies and the detection systems have come to the point that the reliability and reproducibility of the imunohistochemical analysis of EGFR overexpression is being seriously questioned. Objective: The standardization of these procedures is one of most pursued goals at present, with the aim to continue using EGFR overexpression by IHC as selection criteria and predictor of treatment response, without resorting to most complex techniques for its detection, greatly diminishing the intra and inter laboratory variation. Methods: A review and determination of the relevance in the control of the investigative technique and its feasibility was made. Conclusions: The determination of EGFR overexpression by IHC continues being the most used method at present as predictor of the response to the therapy against the receptor. The heterogeneity of the samples, the lack of standardization of the most used immunohistochemical procedures, the existence of several protocols with the same goal, as well as other sources of variability have led to obtaining hardly reliable and reproducible results.

Keywords : standardization; immunohistochemistry (IHC); epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).

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