Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a special test to detect specific antigens (polypeptides, proteins) at tissue sites. In biology, this is a fairly powerful tool for pathologists, using both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to determine the distribution of tissue antigens in health and disease samples.

IHC plays an important role in pathology and also has many uses in medicine, particularly in diagnosing cancer, such as diagnosing lymphoma. You can visit some sites like https://www.bosterbio.com/immunohistochemistry-ihc-reagents to get more information about IHC.

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The IHC principle has been around since the 1930s, but it wasn't until 1941 that the first IHC studies were reported. At that time, Koons and colleagues used antibodies labelled FITC to depict pneumococcal antigen on infected tissue.

Along with this success, IHC technology continues to be developed and expanded. The enzyme label was presented to the research community and a colloid gold label was also found. Other improvements have been made, such as: Methods of protein conjugation and tissue fixation, making the IHC a useful and important tool for biologists in diagnostic and research laboratories.

In the IHC method, detection of this antigen is achieved through the use of antibodies that specifically bind to this antigen in biological tissue, which has clear advantages over the commonly used special enzyme staining techniques. Therefore, IHC technology is a key tool for medical research, clinical diagnosis, drug development, and biological research.

When it comes to cancer diagnosis applications, the IHC technique is used by doctors to diagnose cancer, along with the use of certain tumour markers. This helps doctors determine whether the cancer is benign or malignant, as well as its stage and grade, cell type, and origin of metastases, which can help determine the primary tumour.