Usefulness of tissue microarrays for assessment of protein expression, gene copy number and mutational status of EGFR in lung adenocarcinoma.

Specific inhibitors targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) can increase survival rates in certain lung adenocarcinoma patients with mutations in the EGFR gene. Although such EGFR-targeted therapies have been approved for use, there is no general consensus among surgical pathologists on how the EGFR status should be tested in lung adenocarcinoma tissues and whether the results of immunohistochemistry (IHC), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and mutational analysis by molecular methods correlate. We evaluated the EGFR status in 61 lung adenocarcinomas by IHC (using total and mutant-specific antibodies against EGFR), by FISH analysis on tissue microarrays (TMAs), and by direct sequencing.

Overexpression of carbonic anhydrase XII in tissues from resectable non-small cell lung cancers is a biomarker of good prognosis.

The pattern of protein expression in tumors is under the influence of nutrient stress, hypoxia and low pH, which determines the survival of neoplastic cells and the development of tumors. Carbonic anhydrase XII (CAXII) is a transmembrane enzyme that catalyzes the reversible hydration of cell-generated carbon dioxide into protons and bicarbonate. Hypoxic conditions activate its transcription and translation and enhanced expression is often present in several types of tumors.

Assessment of morphology, antigenicity, and nucleic acid integrity for diagnostic thyroid pathology using formalin substitute fixatives.

Background: With the advent of the formaldehyde standard law in France, and because of the impact of new methods for diagnosis and prognosis in pathology, formalin replacement in surgical pathology laboratories is currently being discussed in France. However, a set of criteria must be assessed before introducing a formalin substitute fixative. The objective of this study was to compare formalin substitute fixation with formalin fixation and cryoconservation of tissues from several benign and malignant thyroid pathologies with respect to morphology, antigenicity, and nucleic acid (RNA, DNA, microRNA) integrity.