Q&A Bryan R. Hewlett, ART, MLT Consultant Technologist to the Anatomic Pathology EQA program of Ontario Quality Management Program- Laboratory Services (QMP-LS) Canada Bryan R. Hewlett, ART, MLT. Bryan received his initial and specialist training as a Medical Laboratory Technologist in Nottingham, U.K. Immigrating to Canada in 1962, he was employed as the Charge Technologist for the Histopathology and Radioisotope Laboratories at St. Josephs Hospital, Thunder Bay, Ontario. On obtaining his A.R.T in 1996, he moved to McKellar Hospital, Thunder Bay as Supervisor of Histopathology where he developed one of the first IHC reference laboratories in Ontario. During this time, Bryan also served as Instructor at the Thunder Bay Institute of Medical Technology, Lecturer in Medical Laboratory Science, Honors Degree Program at Lakehead University and was active in providing continuing education for regional technologists. In 1992, Bryan moved to McMaster University Medical Center as a Research Associate to set up a core research histology facility and in 1995 was appointed as Technical Specialist in Anatomic Pathology. In 1999, Bryan was appointed as Anatomic Pathology Technical Specialist - IHC and Molecular Pathology, until his retirement in July 2002. Bryan has several publications to his credit and remains active in providing continuing education seminars and workshops. Bryan has served in a number of capacities for both O.S.M.T. and C.S.M.L.S and has served as Technical Advisor to the Anatomic Pathology Committee of the Ontario Quality Management Program - Laboratory Services (QMP-LS). Currently he is Consultant Technologist to the Anatomic Pathology EQA program of QMP-LS. Connection: According to Goldstein et al. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol 2007;15:124­133 Immunohistochemistry (IHC) continues to suffer from variable consistency, poor reproducibility, quality assurance disparities, and the lack of standardization resulting in poor concordance, validation, and verification As an expert . in the field of IHC in Canada, what do you make of this statement and what are your recommendations? I agree with the statement. We need increased standardization to reduce both intra- and inter- laboratory variation and results. Connection: In your opinion, what is the biggest hurdle for standardization? Pre-analytical factors such as tissue handling and fixation. Connection: United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS) helps to ensure that clinical laboratory test results are accurate, reliable and comparable wherever they are produced. Similarly, Nordic Immunohistochemical Quality Control (NordiQC) - an independent, scientific, non-profit organization is dedicated in the quality assessment of IHC in Northern Europe. What is the equivalent of UK NEQAS and NordiQC in Canada? There isnt an equivalent EQA organization nationally in Canada with the exception of the Quality Management Program­Laboratory Services (QMP-LS) in the Province of Ontario. Connection: How many laboratories in Canada follow an external quality assessment (EQA) scheme? All of the laboratories in Ontario with a license to perform IHC participate in the QMP-LS Program. Approximately nine laboratories nationally utilize UK NEQAS and a very small number participate in NordiQC. Connection: What are the main functions of the external quality assessment (EQA) scheme? To provide external quality assurance testing for laboratories (proficiency testing) and for educational purposes. Connection: How would you like to standardize IHC in Canada? I believe that the initial effort should be toward standardized tissue handling and fixation across the country, which may be achieved by issuing consensus guidelines. Connection 2008 | 12 April 2008, VOL 11 Connection IHC STANDARDIZATION AROUND THE WORLD In this issue Q&A with Patho Contents APRIL 2008, VOL 11 2 3 4 Editorial George L. Kumar, PhD Featured Laboratory The Osamura Editorial Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Standardization Around the World George L. Kumar, PhD Managing Featured Laboratory The Osamura Laboratory Laboratory headed by Prof. Robert Yoshiyuki Osamura, MD, Q&A Ask the Experts: On Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Standardization Professor Leong is Medical Di time interval between removal of tissue and immersion in fixative, the temperature of tissue storage Connection: How would you like to standardize IHC in Australia? As discussed above, standardization Connection: Antigen retrieval is essential in immunohistochemistry (IHC) in order to restore epitope Connection: Is a universal image analysis system feasible? No, not until we standardize the all impo Q&A Fernando Soares, MD, PhD University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Dr. Fernando Soares is F Connection: In your opinion, what is the biggest hurdle for standardization? Probably education in l There are no standards in Latin America. We always follow the manufacturers protocol during our firs Q&A Bryan R. Hewlett, ART, MLT Consultant Technologist to the Anatomic Pathology EQA program of There is no standardization of AR steps circumstances, it would be impossible toand, undera the pre Connection: How would you rate European (UK NEQAS, NordiQC) and US IHC standards to Canadian IHC sta Q&A Prof. Chen Jie Prof. Cui Quancai Peking Union Mediacl College Hospital, Beijing, China Prof. Connection: According to Goldstein et al. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol 2007;15:124­133 Immunohis Connection: Is it true that a particular histology feature may be better demonstrated by other fixat Connection: What constitutes standardization of image analysis as applied to immunohistochemistry (I Q&A Dr. Tanuja Manjanath Shet Dr. Vani Parmar Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India Tanuja Manj ... the biggest hurdle in India is suboptimal fixation and processing of tissues. Though I agree th Connection: Is it true that a particular histology feature may be better demonstrated by other fixat Connection: Can you comment on the internal and external quality control (EQC) procedures followed i Q&A Prof. Robert Yoshiyuki Osamura Department of Pathology, Tokai University School of Medicine Connection: In your opinion, what is the biggest hurdle for standardization? The biggest hurdle for the standardization of image ... appropriate for pre-screeninganalysis is of the staining quality. Connection: Why is standardization of image analysis in diagnostic pathology important? Because the Q&A James F. Happel, DLM (ASCP), HTL Technical Director of Surgical Pathology, Research and Deve Connection: United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS) helps to ensure t Connection: The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the College of American Pathologist would recommend that standardization Ibegin with identifying a reliable and trustworthy source ... Interview Immunohistochemistry for Oestrogen and Progesterone Receptors Dr. Andrew Lee Consultant H Connection: What is the difference between the H score and the Allred score? Which is better? What d Connection: Can you comment on the burden in the laboratory, if one changes from a current ER/PR ass Opinion & Interview IHC Standardization: A Dako Perspective Dr. Ole Rasmussen R&D Director, Connection: Dako has developed Readyto-Use Antibodies for in vitro diagnostic applications. How is t Articles UK NEQAS-ICC & ISH: Historical perspective, current role, future directions Andy Dodso UK NEQAS-ICC in the 1990s In his first year as Scheme Organiser, Keith oversaw the transition to sub The application could be argued to represent a field change in terms of the rigour with which the an Assessment teams consist of four assessors, who view slides around a multi-headed microscope and sco The archive which UK NEQAS holds, both in terms of stained slides and methodological data, must sure For Immunocytochemistry and FISH RESULT: RUN 80L SLIDE: NEQAS Laboratory No: XXX Mr. A. Scientist De Figure 6. Feedback on results has always been given high priority, and for many years this has been a b c d Figure 7. The antigen chosen by Gerry Reynolds for his very first assessment run was kap Bibliography Selected UK NEQAS-ICC & ISH papers. Ibrahim M, Dodson AR, Barnett S, Fish D, Jasani Articles Nordic Immunohistochemical Quality Control (NordiQC) An Organization for External Quality A parameters (i.e. results interpretation and reporting) (4, 5). In an EQA setting, by circulating ser CD79a (Fig. 2) Among 112 laboratories submitting stains in the latest run, most used mAb clone JCB11 References 1. Rhodes A, Jasani B, Barnes DM, Bobrow LG, Miller KD. Reliability of immuno-histochemic Fig. 2. CD79a A. Optimal CD79a staining of the tonsil using the monoclonal antibody (mAb) clone JCB Standardization of Ki-67 Immunohistochemical Staining for Diagnosing Grade of Gastrointestinal Strom was conducted in 49 GIST cases. The concordance rate for the evaluation results at three laboratorie CB pH6 a b c d TE pH9 e f g h Autoclave 121° C/10 min Water bath 95° C/40 min Microwave 50 Table 1. Correlation between NCC and STD methods R2=0.9483 Categories of proportion NCC Method 3 Opinions Importance of Standardization for Predictive Prognosis David J. Dabbs, MD Chief of Pathol is documented and serves as a surrogate marker for the initial exposure to formalin. Since the first Opinions The New Era for ER and PRIts time to Standardize! Dr. Ian Ellis, B.Med.Sci. BM, MS, FRCpa et al 2001). The main reason for false-negative results is due to inefficient heat-induced epitope ( Standardization of HER2 TestingInconsistency Raises Questions Opinions Sunil S. Badve, MD, FRCPath rence seen in these trials is in the order of 50%. This is the major reason for all the excitement a which now requires expression of HER2 by at least 30% of tumor cells (instead of 10%). It has also r IHC CONSENSUS MEETING, JANUARY 27 2008, SANTA BARBARA, CA, USA , IHC CONSENSUS MEETING, JANUARY 27, Richard Cartun, PhD, Sunil Badve, MD Jon Askaa, PhD Søren Nielsen, HT, CT, Mogens Vyberg, MD Elizab Dako Abstracts Abstracts presented at the 30th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium December Dako Abstracts Amplification of ESR1 may predict resistance to adjuvant tamoxifen in postmenopausal Dako Abstracts Abstracts presented at the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) A Dako Abstracts Metastatic Pancreatic Endocrine Tumors in the Liver Express KOC Briones AJ, Bourne P Dako Abstracts Merkel Cell Carcinomas Express K Homology Domain Containing Protein Overexpressed in Dako Abstracts Immunohistochemical Analysis of KOC/IMP3 in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Xu H, Sim Dako Abstracts KOC, TTF-1 and CDX2 Discriminate Small-Cell Carcinoma from Carcinoid and Pancreatic Dako Publications Publications Co-authored by Dako: In Press Li L, Xu H, Spaulding B, Cheng L, Si Dako Meetings 2007 - National Society for Histotechnology Meeting. 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