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A Next-generation Tissue Microarray (ngTMA) Protocol for Biomarker Studies
Published on: September 23, 2014
Validation of tissue microarray technology using cervical adenocarcinoma and its precursors as a model system
M Tawfik El-Mansi1, A R W Williams
1Department of Pathology, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. magdy.elmansi@smuht.nwest.nhs.uk
Summary
Tissue microarrays (TMAs) enable large studies using archival tissues. TMAs accurately represent cervical adenocarcinoma morphology and immunohistochemical staining for diagnostic markers.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Pathology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues are crucial for retrospective studies.
- Tissue microarray (TMA) technology facilitates large-scale analysis of these tissues.
- Cervical adenocarcinomas present an opportunity to evaluate TMA utility for immunohistochemistry.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the efficacy of TMA technology for immunohistochemical staining in cervical adenocarcinomas.
- To determine the concordance between TMA core staining and whole tissue section staining.
- To evaluate the accuracy of TMAs in representing tumor morphology, typing, and differentiation.
Main Methods:
- Construction of a TMA from 273 archival paraffin blocks of cervical adenocarcinomas (119 invasive, 20 in situ) and 16 controls.
- Extraction of two paired tissue cores from selected regions of donor blocks.
- Immunohistochemical analysis using antibodies for carcinoembryonic antigen, cytokeratin 7, and cytokeratin 20 on TMA cores and whole donor blocks.
Main Results:
- TMA cores yielded good immunohistochemical staining.
- Staining in TMA cores was highly concordant (approximately 97%) with whole tissue sections.
- TMA cores accurately represented tumor morphology, typing, and differentiation in all cases.
Conclusions:
- TMA technology is a viable and effective method for immunohistochemical studies of cervical adenocarcinomas.
- Careful selection of sampled areas from donor blocks, guided by histologic review, is essential for TMA accuracy.
- TMAs provide reliable data for retrospective cohort studies using archival tissues.