IHC - Gross Cystic Disease Fluid Protein Test

ImmunoHistoChemistry (IHC) is a primary staining process conducted on either fresh or frozen breast cancer tissue that is removed during biopsy. IHC test is useful for finding whether the cancer cells have hormone and/or HER2 receptors on the surface. Gross cystic disease fluid protein-15 (GCDFP-15), an unusual 15,000-dalton monomer protein, is found in the gross cystic disease fluid—a pathological secretion from the breast. It is a marker of breast cancers with apocrine characteristics and apocrine epithelium.

There is nothing specific for you to do. After the biopsy, breast cancer tissue is collected and used either at once or frozen and left for later use. Sample preparation is crucial to keep the tissue architecture, cell morphology and target epitope antigenicity intact. This involves careful collection, fixation and sectioning of the tissue.

IHC-gross cystic disease fluid protein test is used for the following: to identify tumors with apocrine features, to detect tumors with uncertain histogenesis, and to locate the proteins within a cell.

The basic outline of IHC-gross cystic disease fluid protein test is the following: Fixation: to preserve the tissue’s architecture and cell morphology. Antigen retrieval: to enhance protein availability for detection. Blocking: to scale down the presence of unnecessary background signals. Antibody labelling: to visualise and interpret the results.