David Chafin
Roche Tissue Diagnostics (RTD), USA
Keynote: Oncol Cancer Case Rep
Precision medicine is based on obtaining diagnostic and therapeutic data from clinical assays for each individual. In tissue diagnostics, non-standradized pre-analytical factors often confound assay results. One such step, Formalin fixation, is a mainstay of modern histopathologic analysis, yet the practice is poorly standardized and a significant potential source of preanalytical errors. Concerns of workflow and turnaround time drive interest in developing shorter fixation protocols, but rapid protocols can lead to poor histomorphology or inadequate downstream assay results. Variable assay results can lead to errors in diagnosis and treatment depending on the specifics of the disease and biomarkers involved. Additionally, assays such as immunohistochemistry for phosphorylated epitopes have historically been challenging in the context of formalin-fixed tissue, indicating that there may be room for improvement in this process that is fundamental to the practice of anatomic pathology. With these issues in mind, we studied basic formalin biochemistry to develop a novel formalin fixation protocol that involves a pre incubation in subambient temperature formalin prior to a brief exposure to heated formalin(1). This new protocol is more rapid than standard protocols yet preserves histomorphology and yields tissue that is compatible with an expanded set of downstream clinical and research assays. Using this novel protocol we found increased preservation of phosphorylated epitopes on proteins, important protein biomarkers such as FoxP3 and RNA species such as mRNA and miRNA. 1.Chafin, D., Theiss, A., Roberts, E., Borlee, G., Otter, M., and Baird, G. S. (2013) Rapid two-temperature formalin fixation. PLoS One 8, e54138
David received a B.S. degree in Biochemistry from Purdue University and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Iowa. David was both a Cancer Center and NIH postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rochester. David is currently a principal scientist at Roche Tissue Diagnostics located in Tucson Arizona. David is the technical lead for pre-analytics. This project aims to provide standardization of routine tissue collection. Efforts have focused on ways to optimize tissue fixation providing high quality with exceptional turn-around time and higher medical content. David holds several patents on automated immunohistochemistry as well as novel fixation protocols.
Email: david.chafin@roche.com