Academic and nonacademic laboratories perform equally on CIQC immunohistochemistry proficiency testing

Abstract

Objectives: To test whether academic centers (ACs) are more successful than nonacademic centers (NACs) in immunohistochemistry (IHC) external quality assessment challenges in the Canadian Immunohistochemistry Quality Control (CIQC) program. Methods: Results of 9 CIQC challenges for breast cancer marker (BM) and various non-breast cancer marker (NBM) tests were examined. Success rates were compared between AC/NAC laboratories and those located in small or large cities. Performance was also correlated with annual IHC case volumes. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in performance in any of the comparisons. However, overall performance on BM was significantly better (P