An alternative high output tissue microarraytechnique

In this method, a 3.6 cm long and 2.7 cm wide recipient block with 88 square lattices (3 mm in width) was first prepared using several commercial instruments. A 2 mm wide and 6 mm long tissue rod was then prepared using a self-made blade-shaped knife from each paraffin embedded donor block of gastrointestinal stromal tumors. These rods were manually arrayed one by one into the corresponding lattices of the 60 degreesC pre-softened recipient block with the guide of holes drilled with a steel needle. A 70-rod TMA was made to testify this method.The prepared TMA had well defined array configurations, good tissue morphology and fully preserved proteins and DNA. A total of 500-1000 TMA sections could be easily obtained from a TMA block.This low-cost and time-saving method provides an alternative sampling tool for high output TMA. Virtual slides The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1979605867857990