A simple procedure for reducing sampling problems in the transmission electron microscope diagnosis of human tumors

A simple procedure is described which permits more extensive sampling in the transmission electron microscopic analysis of human tumor tissue. Thin slices of 2 to 4 mm side are cut from fresh or fixed specimens and processed for embedding in exactly the same manner as for conventional mm-cubes pieces, with blocking out in 8 mm-diameter flat-bottomed molds. Advantages and shortcomings of the technique compared with other published methods having the same objective, are discussed. Examples are given to illustrate the usefulness of the procedure.