Enhancing Prostate Tumor Biobanking Reliability with Improved Sampling Technique and Histological Characterization

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Pathology
• Biobanking

Background:

• High-quality "omics" studies require fresh, well-characterized tumor tissue.
• Prostate cancer (PC) presents unique challenges for sample acquisition and characterization due to organ complexity and tumor heterogeneity.
• Histopathological characterization of fresh tissue without altering its structure is difficult but crucial for assessing surgical margins.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a new method for acquiring, mapping, characterizing, and micro-dissecting resected prostate tissue based on anatomopathological criteria.
• To reduce the time needed for histopathological analysis of prostate specimens.
• To enable precise dissection of fresh prostate tissue, focusing on specific histological tumor areas.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel protocol for the anatomopathological assessment of resected prostate tissue.
• Implementation of techniques for mapping and micro-dissection of fresh prostate tissue.
• Integration of pathological criteria (Gleason score, high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia - PIN, prostatitis) for sample selection.

Main Results:

• The new method significantly reduces the time for histopathological analysis of prostate specimens.
• Tissue structure is preserved, facilitating accurate assessment of surgical margins.
• Precise micro-macro dissection of fresh tissue, including tumor areas and precursor lesions, is achieved.

Conclusions:

• This method offers an efficient and accurate approach to preparing prostate cancer tissue for biobanking and research.
• It overcomes challenges in characterizing heterogeneous PC tissue, ensuring high-quality samples for "omics" analyses.
• The protocol supports the detailed pathological assessment of fresh tissue, crucial for both research and clinical evaluation.