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. 2019 Apr-Jun;36(2):79-83.
doi: 10.4103/JOC.JOC_15_17.

Cytology Microarray on Cell Block Preparation: A Novel Diagnostic Approach in Fluid Cytology

Arghya Bandyopadhyay  1 , Soumi Bhattacharyya  1 , Shreosee Roy  1 , Kaushik Majumdar  2 , Kaushik Bose  1 , Anup K Boler  1
Affiliations

Cytology Microarray on Cell Block Preparation: A Novel Diagnostic Approach in Fluid Cytology

Arghya Bandyopadhyay et al. J Cytol. 2019 Apr-Jun.

Abstract

Background: The cytological examination of serous body effusions to diagnose and stage malignancy is well accepted in clinical medicine. Conventional smear (CS) and cell block (CB) study has to be complemented with immunohistochemistry (IHC) for a definitive diagnosis of malignancy and also to differentiate it from reactive mesothelial cells. Cytology microarray (CMA) is a modification of tissue microarray which involves core needle biopsy of multiple cell blocks and embedding it in a single block.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of IHC technique in CMA for rapid diagnosis of malignancy and to reduce the cost of testing.

Materials and methods: In this study, 82 pleural fluids were collected and subjected to CS and CB study followed by IHC in CMA blocks. Six commonly used antibodies were applied to confirm malignancy and diagnose the primary.

Results: Nineteen cases were diagnosed as malignancy by CB method. MOC-31 confirmed adenocarcinoma deposit in 67% cases of which 44% were proved to be of lung primary by TTF1.

Conclusions: IHC on CMA blocks of effusion fluids is a very effective technique that can significantly reduce the cost of testing by >70%.

Keywords: Cell block; conventional smear; cytology microarray.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative photomicrograph of haematoxylin-eosin stained cell block cores assembled on cytology microarray. (Scanner view)
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a and b) Representative cytology microarray core stained with haematoxylin and eosin (×400) and corresponding immunostain for TTF1 (×400); (c and d) Representative CMA core stained with haematoxylin and eosin (×200) and corresponding immunostain for MOC-31 (×400)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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