Cytological examination of intraoperative flushes makes it possible to clarify the prevalence of the process and determine the tactics of surgery for ovarian cancer (OC). But the existing subjective factors of evaluating the QI of the drug lead to the need for an integrated approach to evaluation, including the use of immunocytochemical examination (ICC). At the same time, the ICC method requires detailed compliance with the protocol and reaction time, which makes it difficult to use it in the study of intraoperative flushes. Using a fluorescent antibody label, it is possible to significantly speed up the reaction time and use the ICC method during surgical interventions.
The aim of the work is to evaluate the effectiveness of using a "liquid" biochip with a fluorescent label for ICS of intraoperative flushes in comparison with the traditional ICC method.
40 samples of intraoperative flushes obtained from patients with suspected OC performed during surgical intervention of the State Medical Institution NO City Hospital No. 35, Nizhny Novgorod in 2021-2022 were analyzed. All fluid samples were examined cytologically. Using the SER1 test system (RUSCELL LLC, Russia), an ICC study was conducted, the results of which were visualized using a Zeiss Primo Star microscope (Carl Zeiss, Germany), as well as additionally each sample of the resulting liquid was examined using a "liquid" biochip with a fluorescent EpCAM protein imaging label.
According to the results of cytological examination, the following data were obtained: non–diagnostic material (ND) – 11.4%, absence of malignant cells (NFM) – 44.3%, presence of cells with atypia of unclear significance (AUS) - 10%, suspicion of the presence of a malignant process (SFM) – 20%, malignant nature of cells (MAL) – 14.3%. An additional ICC study of EpSAM protein expression using the SER 1 test system led to changes in diagnostic results within the following categories: NFM - 58.6%, AUS – 0%, SFM – 2.8%, MAL – 27.2%.
The combined use of CE and ICC studies of intraoperative flushes makes it possible to increase the detection of malignant tumor cells by 1.4 times. The use of a fluorescent label reduces the waiting time for the result by 3.1 times compared to the traditional ICC method