Simple quantitation of immunohistochemical staining positivity in microscopy for histopathology routine
Abstract
Immunohistochemical staining positivity can be quantitated in the context of conventional light microscopy. The quantitation is based on the evaluation of staining intensity of individual cells, and the fraction of positively stained cells. These variables can be combined into staining indices combining information from the fraction of stained cells and their staining intensity. The quantitated staining positivity can be successfully applied in prognostication of human cancers. The potential of these quantitation methods seems to be highest in grading of tumours of which only a small amount of tissue is available for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. This paper describes two quantitation methods and gives practical guidelines on their use in immunohistochemistry of human tumours.