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Published on: December 12, 2011
Academic and nonacademic laboratories perform equally on CIQC immunohistochemistry proficiency testing
Zhongchuan Will Chen1, Heather Neufeld, Maria A Copete
1Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Objectives:
To test whether academic centers (ACs) are more successful than nonacademic centers (NACs) in immunohistochemistry (IHC) external quality assessment challenges in the Canadian Immunohistochemistry Quality Control (CIQC) program.
Methods:
Results of 9 CIQC challenges for breast cancer marker (BM) and various non-breast cancer marker (NBM) tests were examined. Success rates were compared between AC/NAC laboratories and those located in small or large cities. Performance was also correlated with annual IHC case volumes.
Results:
There was no statistically significant difference in performance in any of the comparisons. However, overall performance on BM was significantly better (P < .0001, t test) than on NBM tests regardless of AC/NAC nature or city size. The mean failure rate on NBM was approximately twice that of BM tests.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that recent emphasis on breast hormone IHC quality assurance has led to improved test quality.
