Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014:1102:679-95.
doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-727-3_37.

Tissue resources for clinical use and marker studies in melanoma

Jonathan L Curry  1 , Michael A Davies, Tiffany L Calderone, Katherine Nathanson, Victor G Prieto, Jeffrey E Gershenwald
Affiliations

Tissue resources for clinical use and marker studies in melanoma

Jonathan L Curry et al. Methods Mol Biol. 2014.

Abstract

The adequate procurement and preservation of high-quality tissue specimens from patients with melanoma is a critical clinical issue as patients' tumor samples are now used not only for pathological diagnosis but are also necessary to determine the molecular signature of the tumor to stratify patients who may benefit from targeted melanoma therapy. Tissue resources available for physicians and investigators include formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue and frozen tissue, either preserved in optimal cutting temperature (OCT) media or snap frozen. Properly preserved tissue may be used to evaluate melanoma biomarkers by immunohistochemistry (IHC) with tissue microarray (TMA) technology, to perform genetic and genomic analyses, and for other types of translational research in melanoma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
H&E-based “trimming” of OCT specimens. Examples of H&E-stained OCT tumor sections before (A and C) and following (B and D) trimming of OCT blocks to maximize tumor cell nuclei and to remove areas of necrosis. Note that circled areas (A and C) were identified for trimming
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Diagram of assembled TMA. Tissue cores of patient’s tumors obtained from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) donor blocks are placed in recipient TMA block by a tissue arrayer. This process can place dozens of donor tissue cores in one TMA block that can be cut and evaluated on a single microscopic slide
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Frozen tissue preparation. (a) Example of liquid nitrogen cryomold freezing stand (LN2 Stand). (b) LN 2 stand in ice bucket with liquid nitrogen. (c) Examples of: OCT compound; labeled cryomold; and prepped tissue ready for freezing (not on ice; for demonstration purposes only). (d) Process of rapid freezing of tissue in OCT (partially hardened) using LN2 stand. (e) Process of rapid freezing of tissue in OCT (fully hardened) using slurry method (see Note 15). (f) Example of labeled aluminum foil OCT archival sample wrapper. (g) Example of frozen OCT sample just prior to wrapping. (h) Examples of wrapped sample (1) backside and (2) front side. (i) Example of wrapped labeled sample placed in archival cryobox
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Davies MA, Gershenwald JE. Targeted therapy for melanoma: a primer. Surg Oncol Clin N Am. 2010;20:165–180. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wilson M, Zhao F, Letrero R, et al. Somatic mutation status of melanomas and effect on clinical outcome in patients on ECOG 2603. Society for Melanoma Research 2012 Congress; Hollywood, CA. 2012.
    1. Becker D, Mihm MC, Hewitt SM, et al. Markers and tissue resources for melanoma: meeting report. Cancer Res. 2006;66:10652–10657. - PubMed
    1. Chapman PB, Hauschild A, Robert C, et al. Improved survival with vemurafenib in melanoma with BRAF V600E mutation. N Engl J Med. 2011;364:2507–2516. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Heidorn SJ, Milagre C, Whittaker S, et al. Kinase-Dead BRAF and Oncogenic RAS Cooperate to Drive Tumor Progression through CRAF. Cell. 2010;140:209–221. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources