Tissue microarrays and their relevance to the urologist

We review important aspects of TMA methodology and discuss its wide range of clinical applications with particular emphasis on key clinical studies. We also provide an update on recent and projected uses of this technology to help the urologist improve care in oncology patients.

A directed MEDLINE literature review of TMAs was performed. Important publications that have shaped our understanding of TMAs were selected for review. They were augmented by manual searches and our personal bibliographic collections.

The TMA is a high throughput molecular biology technique that can significantly accelerate the processing of a large number of tissue specimens with excellent quality, good reliability and the preservation of original tissue. TMA studies demonstrate their accuracy and reliability compared to those of standard histological techniques and correlate with clinicopathological information to determine disease progression and prediction of the clinical outcome.

This review represents an overview and update for the urologist on TMAs and their clinical applications in urological oncology. In the future it is anticipated that the outcomes of this method will be used to assist in the diagnosis, prognosis and development of novel therapies in individual patients.