Hi Carrie and Sharon

     Thanks for your replies. I realize I sounded irate, but something about
this test does'nt sit right with me. I've been doing IHC for 5 years, so it's
not like I'm new to the field and inexprienced. But then again, I'm not a
rocket scientist either.
     Carrie,
     you say all NBF fixed tissue should be retrieved, I realize that formalin
fixation will decrease the number of reactive cells, but I've worked with NBF
fixed tissue and all of it did'nt need it. I currently work with zinc-formalin
fixed tissues.
      As to an extremely positive Her2 sample, I've come across information
that states that overexpression of Her2 correlates with poor prognosis ONLY in
patients with lymph node metastasis. Whereas, patients with overexpression
without axillary metastasis have not demonstrated a correlation with poor
outcome.
     Knowing a monoclonal antibody is better than a poly, I don't understand
why Dako would use a poly in thier kit.

     Sharon,
     I have the kit and have read the insert, I also have about thirty pages
that Dako sent to me along with a stack of books pertaining to IHC (I've been
doing my homework).
     I have been running Dako's c-erb-B2 antibody (the same one in the kit)
for several years now and haven't had a problem. I will be starting the
correlations of Dako's kit to our present protocol tomorrow.
     I understand Dako's tatics of offering a free trial of their
immunostainer, but that's what worries me - the all mighty buck.

     Believe me, I would stand on my head while performing an assay if that
was in the best interest of the patient. I only wanted to be sure that with
the HercepTest I would be offering the best for patients. But it seemed my
dealings with Dako and Genetech along with the more I read - the more things
didn't seem to add up.

Sue Kennedy, HT(ASCP)IHC