Specific and sensitive cellular markers are necessary for the detection and quantitative analysis of apoptosis. Identification of apoptotic cells by specific markers in histological sections is especially important for heterogenous cell populations, such as occurs in normal and neoplastic tissues. Histochemical analysis of apoptosis in tissue sections is critical because morphological evaluation does not provide accurate counts of apoptotic cells, and biochemical analysis of DNA breaks gives no information about cell types undergoing apoptotic death.
