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Demonstration of oestrogen and progesterone receptors in freeze‐dried, paraffin‐embedded sections of breast cancer
Author(s) -
ONETTIMUDA A.,
CRESCENZI A.,
PUJIA N.,
FARAGGIANA T.,
MARINOZZI V.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
histopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.626
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1365-2559
pISSN - 0309-0167
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2559.1991.tb01477.x
Subject(s) - immunohistochemistry , antigen retrieval , frozen section procedure , progesterone receptor , pathology , breast cancer , receptor , staining , fixation (population genetics) , cryostat , oestrogen receptor , medicine , biology , cancer , estrogen receptor , population , physics , superconductivity , environmental health , quantum mechanics
Immunohistochemical evaluation of oestrogen and progesterone receptors is of importance in evaluating human breast tumours. Staining techniques can be performed on snap‐frozen, cryostat‐cut tissues or, as recently reported, on formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded tissues. These methods are, however, limited by several drawbacks, including difficulties in retrospective studies and in storage of the material, and the relatively high frequency of false negative results for chemically fixed specimens. We therefore investigated the application of freeze‐drying technology to assess the feasibility and reliability of this technique as an alternative method for diagnostic breast pathology. Morphological and immunohistochemical studies were performed on snap‐frozen, freeze‐dried and paraffin‐embedded tissue obtained from 16 cases of benign and malignant breast neoplasms. Our results showed good preservation of tissue morphology, similar to standard formalin fixation, and excellent preservation of antigenic reactivity of nuclear receptors, comparable to that obtained with cryostat sections. We therefore suggest that freeze drying and paraffin embedding of frozen tissue blocks is equivalent or even preferable to formalin fixation for the demonstration of oestrogen and progesterone receptors, at least in the case of small tumours.