Simultaneous standard light microscopy and immunohistology on bronchoscopically procured lung cancer specimens

A method is described which enables the routine assessment of in situ phenotypic differences in lung cancer specimens. In this method, bronchoscopically procured biopsies are mildly fixated and split into two parts. One part is processed according to standard histological procedures, ensuring optimal morphology for normal pathological evaluation of the case. The other part is used for monoclonal antibody based immunohistology. The reactivity of a panel of monoclonal antibodies directed against different lung cancer and human leucocyte associated antigens has been assessed. It is shown that antigens that are normally destroyed during routine fixation and embedding technology are still reactive in the procedure. It is concluded that the procedure enables a study of monoclonal antibody defined phenotypic features, without interfering with the normal histopathological evaluation of the case.