> we perform a lot of immunostainings on decalcified bone marrows 
> (Jamshidi etc). Steroid-receptors and HER2 is hampered by harsh 
> decalcification as far as we know.
> What do you think are the most common methods for decalcification of 
> bone metastases so that you still can perform reliable ER, PR and 
> HER2 testings ? 

Decalcification with EDTA is preferable. we use 0.25M EDTA on bone marrow
biopsies to decalcify and (with the exception of Cyclin-D1, which is a
rather tricky ab) we have no problems.

BTW: I can't find any information about the reliability of her2neu-testing
after decalcification. What about the semiquantitative score?

Dr. Alexander Nader
Path. Institut Hanuschkrankenhaus
Vienna, Austria