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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

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Published on: November 10, 2023
Ventana immunohistochemistry ALK (D5F3) detection of ALK expression in pleural effusion samples of lung
Zheng Wang1, Xiaonan Wu2, Yuankai Shi3
1Department of Pathology, Beijing Hospital of the Ministry of Health, Beijing, China.
Aim:
To evaluate the Ventana IHC ALK (D5F3) assay for detecting anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) protein expression in pleural effusion samples.
Methods:
Historical, selected (wild-type EGFR, K-RAS) pleural effusion cytologic blocks of lung adenocarcinoma samples (Study 1) and unselected lung adenocarcinoma pleural effusion cytologic blocks (Study 2) were tested by Ventana IHC ALK (D5F3) assay. Quantitative real-time-PCR was used to verify immunohistochemistry results.
Results:
A total of 17 out of 100 (Study 1) and ten out of 104 (Study 2) pleural effusion samples were ALK expression positive by the Ventana IHC ALK (D5F3) assay. The ALK fusion results with immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time-PCR had a concordance rate of 87.5% (κ = 0.886; p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
The Ventana IHC ALK (D5F3) assay is a reliable tool for detecting ALK protein expression in pleural effusion samples.
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