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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 July 2020
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) has provided major insights about the classification of brain tumors by identifying cellular markers of phenotype, and about tumor growth potential with nuclear markers of proliferation. Newer in situ hybridization shows promise in tumor classification and prognostication.
Fig. 1 shows the sensitive and reliable avidin-biotin conjugate (ABC) method of localizing glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). GFAP is the most specific marker of gliomas, tumors of brain cells, available today. The ABC method can be used to find any antigen for which a primary antibody is available. A molecular bridge then links this primary antibody bound to tissue with a label that can be seen, a substrate of the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme like diaminobenzidine (DAB) that produces a brown, insoluble reaction product at the site of the antigen. IHC for GFAP has revealed that brain tumors previously thought to be sarcomas are actually malignant gliomas (Fig. 2).