STANDARDIZATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF SILVER IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION (SISH) FOR HER-2 GENE ASSESSMENT IN ALBANIA

Siltana Zeneli, Majlinda Ikonomi, Mehdi Alimehmeti

Abstract

Her2/neu protein overexpression assessed by immunohistochemistry is the most commonly used method in routine practice because of the easy performance and low costs. Her2/neu for equivocal cases that can’t be evaluated from only mmunohistochemistry, need to be assessed for gene amplification using in situ hybridization probes. Silver in Situ Hybridization is a quite novel assay that has recently been introduced in our laboratory practice in NUHC “Mother Teresa”. It deserves more time and is more expensive compared to immunohistochemistry. In this study, for the first time in Albania, we used silver in situ hybridization for Her2/neu status assessment on gastric carcinomas. Considering the importance of silver in situ hybridization in clinical diagnosis, beside keeping to strict protocols and using validated, reliable antibodies and diagnostics kits, we developed a series of optimization protocols and a personalized workflow for new and archived samples. Establishment of these protocols has increased the success of the assay in our laboratory, especially for samples more than 1 year old. However, the main issue about this study is reaching an effective result in economical restriction situations, where samples of current or recurrent cases need to be reviewed for HER2 status.

Pages: 53 - 57