Mechanised one-day fat clearance method to increase the lymph node yield in rectal cancer specimens

The Royal College of Pathologists' guidelines for reporting colorectal cancer state that all lymph nodes in a colorectal cancer specimen should be sampled, regardless of site or size. The only means by which one can be certain that all nodes have been sampled is to clear the fat and visualise the lymph nodes. Methods of fat clearance have been available for many years, but few are acceptable in routine practice. Here, a simple, effective and economical solution to the problem is described, which should be amenable to any laboratory with a spare or back-up tissue-processing machine.