Quantum dots-based immunofluorescence technology for the quantitative determination of HER2 expression in breast cancer

HER2 detection is important for breast cancer (BC) treatment and prognosis, but the detection methods currently used have some disadvantages. Quantum dots (QDs)-based probes provide a potentially important new method for HER2 detection in clinical practice. This potential is examined in this paper. A QDs HER2 probe kit and QDs image acquisition and analysis software were developed and applied to 94 clinical samples of BC. Compared to conventional immunohistochemistry techniques, this method provided a superior accurate and sensitive method for the detection of HER2 in clinical breast cancer diagnosis. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.