Tissue microarrays: leaping the gap between research and clinical adoption

Area of Science:

• Biomedical research
• Pathology
• Biomarker analysis

Background:

• Tissue microarrays (TMAs) are widely used in preclinical and translational research for high-throughput in situ biomarker analysis.
• TMAs facilitate efficient analysis of numerous patient samples, aiding in biomarker discovery and validation.
• Current clinical diagnostic use is limited, despite TMAs' potential, due to reliance on conventional whole-section tissue assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the fundamentals and research applications of TMAs.
• To focus on the application of TMAs in clinical laboratory settings for assay development and quality control.
• To explore the potential of TMAs as assay performance and quantification controls in clinical diagnostics.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on tissue microarray technology and applications.
• Discussion of advanced imaging and image-analysis integration with TMAs.
• Exploration of TMAs' utility in clinical laboratory assay development and quality control.

Main Results:

• TMAs are established tools for biomarker analysis in research settings.
• Integration with advanced imaging enhances objective biomarker assessment.
• TMAs show promise for robust assay development and quality control in clinical labs.

Conclusions:

• TMAs are valuable for biomarker research and assay development.
• Further integration and validation are needed for routine clinical diagnostic use.
• TMAs can serve as effective controls for assay performance and quantification in clinical settings.