Abstract
This book compiles knowledge gathered in the last decade of medical immunohistochemistry. Twenty chapters, written by 26 authors who are well known in the field of diagnostic immunohistochemistry, make up two parts. Part I is an up-to-date review of immunohistochemistry with discussion of quality assurance/quality control and troubleshooting. The chapter dedicated to cost-effectiveness may not be relevant in a veterinary environment. Part II presents neoplastic diseases by organ system; the last two chapters cover immunocytochemistry and infectious diseases, respectively.
The information presented is accurate and is supported by recent references. There are rare omissions of information. For instance, in the chapter on urinary tumors there is no mention of uroplakins, proteins used in medical pathology for the characterization of urothelial tumors since the early 1990s. The index is complete and cross-referenced. This book seems intended in part as a replacement for Taylor and Cote's Immunomicroscopy (2nd ed., 1994). Whereas images in the former are usually in black and white, illustrations in the current text are in full color, numerous, and good-to-outstanding. However, figure legends are inconsistent and omit listing of the chromagen or immunohistochemical technique used. A unique feature is the use of “key diagnostic points” for specific tumors or markers, which summarizes the salient diagnostic features. This helps the busy diagnostician gather the important facts at a glance. Graphic expression of reactivity for different tumor markers is another helpful, although inconsistently used, feature. There is repetition when discussing the same marker in different tissues or tumors. This redundancy sometimes creates inconsistencies in technique such as variations in antigen retrieval by multiple authors for the same antibody in different tissues.
Improvements for future editions would be: 1) consistent characterization of the pattern of staining (e.g., cytoplasmic, membrane, nuclear; 2) an appendix with sources of antibodies and other reagents; and 3) technical appendices with protocols for the novice setting up an immunohistochemistry laboratory.
Although this book is written by and intended for medical pathologists, veterinary and comparative pathologists can benefit from its breadth and use it as a reference for developing markers for neoplastic diseases of animals. In summary, despite the orientation of this book toward medical immunohistochemistry, it will be useful to veterinary diagnostic pathologists and researchers in animal disease. This book should be on the shelf of any immunohistochemistry laboratory.