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Published on: December 25, 2017
Shrinkage of head and neck cancer specimens after formalin fixation
Chih-Hon Chen1, Meng-Yu Hsu, Rong-San Jiang
1Department of Otolaryngology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC.
Background:
We conducted this study to investigate whether formalin fixation is associated with the shrinkage of head and neck cancer specimens.
Methods:
Patients scheduled to undergo operation were eligible for enrollment. Fresh specimens were measured immediately in the operating room, and the measurements were repeated after formalin fixation.
Results:
A total of 100 specimens were collected. Nearly half of them were obtained from the oral cavity (n=49), and a large majority were squamous cell carcinoma (n=69). The average decreases in length, width, and depth after formalin fixation were 1.50mm (4.40%), 1.52 mm (6.18%), and 0.67 mm (4.10%), respectively. There was no significant difference in the shrinkage percentage associated with gender, age, tumor site, tumor size, or histology.
Conclusion:
We found that head and neck cancer specimens shrink after formalin fixation. Therefore, we recommend that the specimen be measured immediately in order to avoid the underestimation of tumor size.
