Abstract :
Dr. Albert Coons et al in 1941 first initiated immunohistochemistry to identify cellular or tissue constituents by means of antigen and antibody interactions. The site of antibody binding can be identified either by direct labeling of antibody or by use of secondary labeling method.
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) involves the use of labeled antibodies to localize the antigens in the tissues through antigen-antibody interactions and are visualized either by fluorescent dye, enzyme, radioactive element or colloidal gold. IHC usage has an obvious advantage over the traditional one, which uses special enzyme staining technique that identify only limited number of proteins, enzymes and certain tissue structure. IHC can be commonly employed to distinguish the tissue of epithelial and mesenchymal
differentiation, cellular changes which are normally not visible in regular staining techniques, and earliest changes in transformed tissues. IHC is relatively rapid and simple method to better determine the specific neoplastic tissue origin, the behavior or progression of neoplasm. Hence IHC have gained importance in the medical research and has been considered as a crucial & widely used technique in research laboratories as well as in clinical diagnostics.
In present review IHC markers for epithelial origin that can be utilized to diagnose the tumor or to determine the prognosis of the tumor..
Keyword :
Immunohistochemistry, Antigen, Antibody labeling, Epithelial origin markers.