Abstract
Objective: The introduction of Liquid Based Technology (LBC) offers numerous advantages for cervical screening including the facility to make additional preparations after the sample has been reported. Could this additional preparation be used effectively for immunocytochemical (ICC) staining for p16? The aim of this study was to establish working techniques, a scoring system and assess the suitability of p16 for use in diagnostically difficult cases.Study design: A working technique for two commercially available antibodies, DakoCytomation Cintec p16INK4a and Vision Biosystems Novocastra p16 was established and applied to three groups of control samples, consisting of negative, borderline and dyskaryotic cases. All dyskaryotic cases were biopsy confirmed. The results obtained were used to formulate a scoring system (0–9), based on the percentage of positive cells and intensity of stain, which could then be applied to test cases. This group of test cases consisted of diagnostically difficult samples, which had been discussed or reviewed in the laboratory.Results: The results showed that p16 could aid in the diagnosis of difficult cases and should be assessed together with the original Papanicalaou stained slide to identify the cells in question. The scoring system with a cut off score of 4 for a positive result proved significant.Conclusion: Use of p16 in a routine laboratory could help further reduce false positive or negative results thus improving the service offered.
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