Immunohistochemistry on old archival paraffin blocks: is there an expiry date?

Abstract

Few studies have focused on antigen preservation in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue in old archival material and additional studies are required, especially considering that these samples are an irreplaceable resource for scientific and clinical research. The purpose of this study is to verify antigen preservation in FFPE tissue samples stored for several decades. From the pathology archives, FFPE blocks were selected dating back to the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010. A panel of 12 antibodies was applied and immunoreactivities were compared. While cytoplasmic antigens showed no reduction in immunostaining intensity over time, membrane and nuclear antigens presented reduced staining intensity in older blocks. In particular, the nuclear antigen, Ki67 and CD31 showed the most pronounced antigen decay in the oldest archival blocks. In order to test possible antigen recovery, deep sectioning and lengthening of heat pretreatment were applied. Both strategies partially recover antigenicity, but their simultaneous application shows the best results.

Pancreatic High-Grade Neuroendocrine Neoplasms in the Korean Population: A Multicenter Study

“…First, to ensure adequate follow-up, cases were selected from 2000 to 2010; however, as archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks were used, Ki-67 immunostaining was suboptimal in some cases. Antigen decay, especially for nuclear antigens such as Ki-67, has been described in old archival paraffin blocks [19]. Two of our cases showed very weak nuclear Ki-67 labeling, and both were from year 2001.…”

“…Department of Pathology, 1 Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, 2 Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 3 Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Incheon, 4 International St. Mary's Hospital, Catholic Kwan-dong University College of Medicine, Incheon, 5 Saint Maria Pathology, Busan, 6 Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, 7 Eulji University Hospital, Daejeon, 8 Seegene Medical Foundation, Seoul, 9 Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, 10 Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, 11 Inha University Hospital, Incheon, 12 National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, 13 Soon Chun Hyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, 14 Kosin University Gospel Hospital, Busan, 15 Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, 16 Inje University Seoul Paik Hospital, Seoul, 17 Gil Medical Center, Gachon University College of Medicine, Incheon, 18 Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, 19 Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, 20 Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea…”

Procedural Requirements and Recommendations for Multiplex Immunofluorescence Tyramide Signal Amplification Assays to Support Translational Oncology Studies

“…The main reason for performing a multiplexed assay is to obtain a tabulated report format with a high volume of tumor biological information representing multidimensional data on tissue architecture, co-expression of markers, spatial distribution of multiple cell phenotypes, and identification of rare cell types [38,43]. For multiplex IF analysis, semiquantitative scoring is usually not appropriate because of the massive amount of information in a single slide and because the power of multiplex IF platforms is reflected in the identification of densities of cell phenotypes that can be associated with pathology, clinical patient information, and prognoses [44,45]. Automated computational pathology platforms are a promising direction for more objective quantitation of pathology staining [46].…”

A streamlined mass spectrometry-based proteomics workflow for large scale FFPE tissue analysis

“…Hospitals routinely archive biopsied tissue specimens that are collected for diagnostic purposes as formalin-fixed and paraffinembedded (FFPE) tissue blocks. FFPE is an economical archival choice as tissues can be stored at great density at room temperature (RT) for years or decades while maintaining integrity for pathology analyses [1]. An estimated half a billion FFPE cancer tissues are stored to date and this number is rapidly rising [2], representing an invaluable resource for studying molecular mechanisms underlying diseases, testing potential biomarkers and discovering new ones.…”