Cancer Diagnosis Program | Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research Branch

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The effect of delay in fixation, different fixatives, and duration of fixation in estrogen and progesterone receptor results in breast carcinoma.

Author(s): Apple S, Pucci R, Lowe AC, Shintaku I, Shapourifar-Tehrani S, Moatamed N

Publication: Am J Clin Pathol, 2011, Vol. 135, Page 592-8

PubMed ID: 21411782 PubMed Review Paper? No

Purpose of Paper

Conclusion of Paper

Studies

1. Study Purpose

   The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of cold ischemia time, fixative type, and fixation duration on ER and PR status determination in breast cancer specimens. A single tumor, known to be strongly ER and PR positive, but HER2 negative, was used for this study.

   Summary of Findings:

   Cold ischemia time of 4 days at 4 degrees C did not alter ER or PR immunostaining in most specimens, regardless of fixative or duration. The only exceptions were specimens fixed in Bouin's solution for 48 or 72 h, which showed a decrease in ER staining but were still interpreted as positive. The authors also note that PR staining was more variable than ER staining in Bouin's-fixed specimens but was still interpreted as positive at all time points.

   Biospecimens

   • Tissue - Breast

   Preservative Types

   • Formalin
   • Other Preservative

   Diagnoses:

   • Neoplastic - Carcinoma

   Platform:

   Analyte	Technology Platform
   Protein	Immunohistochemistry
   Morphology	H-and-E microscopy

   Pre-analytical Factors:

   Classification	Pre-analytical Factor	Value(s)
   Biospecimen Preservation	Type of fixation/preservation	Formalin (buffered) Bouin's fixative Pen-fix Zinc formalin Formaldehyde Sakura molecular fixative
   Biospecimen Preservation	Time in fixative	1 h 2 h 3 h 4 h 5 h 6 h 7 h 8 h 9 h 10 h 11 h 12 h 24 h 48 h 72 h 168 h
   Biospecimen Acquisition	Cold ischemia time	0 d 4 d
   Immunohistochemistry Specific	Targeted peptide/protein	ER PR

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