Presented at the 1998 APIII Conference Return to 1998 Abstract Index
IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY DATABASE QUERY SYSTEM
Affiliated Pathologists Medical Group
Huntington Beach, California
Dennis M. Frisman, MD
Currently, no easy way exists to determine the best panel of immunostains that will aid in the differential diagnosis of tumors, especially with the commercial explosion of available antibody reagents. To meet this need, we have developed an immunohistochemistry database query system that will:
- list the antibodies that can differentiate between tumors entered by the user (e.g., lung adenocarcinoma vs. breast carcinoma),
- rank the antibodies in terms of their ability to differentiate between the tumors,
- provide instant references to journal articles describing the reactivity of these antibodies.
The query system provides a meta-analysis of the literature by utilizing a database (both in Filemaker Pro and dBase IV formats) developed over several years containing 1,355 peer-reviewed references and 171,000 immunostain reactivities. After entering two specific diagnoses, the pathologist will obtain a ranked list of antibodies (as determined by difference in proportion or Fisher exact test statistics) that will aid in distinguishing between them. The program reports the percentage reactivity to the two tumors, the number of cases tested, and the references from which the data is derived.
Demonstration of the use of this program will be provided during the poster session. It is hoped that this program will add to the field of immunohistochemistry by:
- providing the community pathologist with readily available expertise on how and when to use immunohistochemistry, and
- assure
the appropriate and cost-effective use of immunohistochemistry
through minimizing the use of redundant or irrelevant
antibodies.