title: Diagnostic Utility of Bronchial Brush-Tip Washings for the Immunohistochemical Assessment of Peripheral Lung Lesions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is an important component of lung cancer diagnosis and management, although performance can be limited due to tissue availability. We describe a novel technique for processing brush-tip washings (BTW) and evaluate the feasibility of IHC testing on these samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients who had cell blocks (CB) created from BTW following bronchoscopic investigation of peripheral lung lesions were included. CB were assessed for adequate material before undergoing IHC staining.
  
  
  RESULTS
  75 patients were included in the study, with bronchoscopic diagnosis of malignancy achieved in 77%. Sixty-seven samples (89%) had sufficient cells for diagnosis on CB and 56 of these (84%) proved amenable to IHC. CB created from BTW were the sole specimens available for IHC subtyping in 7 patients (9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CB are easily created from BTW and are a simple method for increasing the diagnostic utility of bronchoscopic specimens without increasing the risk or duration of bronchoscopy. IHC can be easily performed in a high proportion of cases, increasing the likelihood of accurate sub-typing of tumours following diagnostic bronchoscopy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne Health, Parkville, Vic., Australia.
authors.forename: Asha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonney
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beaty
authors.forename: Katharine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: See
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Irving
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Steinfort
mesh_terms: D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000074482:Thyroid Nuclear Factor 1; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D000074482:Thyroid Nuclear Factor 1; D014157:Transcription Factors