QIHC case studies
QIHC · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Qualification in Immunohistochemistry (QIHC) is a professional credential offered by the ASCP Board of Certification for laboratory professionals who perform, supervise, or interpret immunohistochemical testing. It is a voluntary qualification rather than a license: it signals that a technologist, histotechnologist, or laboratory supervisor has demonstrated knowledge beyond routine procedure-following - the reasoning behind why a protocol works and what to do when it does not. The QIHC case studies are 5 cases and about 3,991 words.
1Four Breast Specimens, One Antibody Panel: Deciding What Can Be Reported
A regional hospital sends eight paraffin blocks from four patients for ER, PR and HER2 testing. The paperwork shows: Patient A - three 16-gauge core biopsies held in saline at room temperature for 3 hours before 10% NBF, total fixation 9 hours.
757 words, about 4 min2A New p40 Clone That Will Not Perform: Optimization Without Shotgunning
Your laboratory is validating a new rabbit monoclonal against p40 for squamous-versus-adenocarcinoma work on an automated platform. The vendor protocol specifies EDTA-based retrieval (CC1) at 100 °C for 32 minutes, primary at 1:100 for 32 minutes at 36 °C, polymer detection with DAB.
820 words, about 4 min3Two Rabbit Antibodies on One Slide: Designing a Prostate Double Stain
Your laboratory wants a two-color double stain on prostate needle biopsies: p63 (rabbit monoclonal) to mark basal cells and AMACR (rabbit monoclonal) to mark carcinoma, so the pathologist can see both in one field. Both are validated individually with polymer/DAB.
834 words, about 4 min4Gastric HER2: Biopsy and Resection That Do Not Agree
A 64-year-old has a gastric body biopsy and a subsequent subtotal gastrectomy. HER2 IHC on the biopsy shows a single tight cluster of six cells with strong complete basolateral membrane staining among roughly 400 tumor cells; everything else is 0/1+.
712 words, about 4 min5A Batch That Stained Unevenly: Reading the Pattern Before Changing Reagents
A 30-slide batch is stained manually for a nuclear marker. The next morning the pathologist reports three distinct problems: on several slides, staining is intense at the tissue edges and pale or absent through the center of the 4 µm section; two slides show a straight pale band running horizontally across the tissue; and one slide has no staining at all, although the same block stained well the previous week.
868 words, about 4 min