Central quadrant procurement of radical prostatectomy specimens

Abstract

Obtaining high quality fresh or frozen prostate tissue in gram amounts promotes the research of prostate cancer. Due to the inability to effectively recognize prostate cancer upon the cut section of a fresh prostate many pathology departments perform whole organ processing precluding the procurement of prostate tissue. Some sites randomly procure tissue, while others perform specialized procedures that can be difficult to duplicate. Neither of these types of procurement consistently results in gram quantities of tissue procured from each prostate with a high percentage of samples yielding tissue corresponding to cancer. In this study, we present a simplified model of prostate tissue procurement that has no impact on Gleason grade, tumor stage or margin status, requires minimal specialized processing, and obtains gram amounts of fresh tissue from each radical prostatectomy specimen with a high percentage yielding cancer tissue.

Fig. 1

After the base and apex are removed the central portion of the prostate can be procured from excluding the capsule. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at www.interscience.wiley.com.]

Fig. 2

Every other level of the central portion of the prostate excluding the capsule is eligible for procurement.[Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at www.interscience.wiley.com.]

Fig. 3

Division of levels into quadrants that are subsequently divided into fresh and frozen specimens. Quality control that directs macro-dissection is performed from review of a stained section cut from the frozen tissue.[Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at www.interscience.wiley.com.]