Biobanking prostate tissue

Background. Prostate cancer is the most common malignant disease in men. Obtaining high quality and diagnostically accurate tissue samples is paramount to the success of prostate cancer research. Collecting unfixed tissues from radical prostatectomy specimens for research purposes is challenging. Prostate cancer often cannot be detected on gross examination, and this tumor is known to be multifocal and heterogeneous making it of interest for interdisciplinary research.

Aim. To develop a protocol that will improve the accuracy and quantity of biobanked primary prostate cancer tissue.

Materials and methods. The removed unfixed prostate gland was dissected with a blade into two halves along the ureter, the tumor lesion was identified macroscopically, two sections were made: the first was separated into fragments and transferred into cryotubes and transport media for biobanking storage; the second was filled with gel, and frozen sectioning and histological verification of the tumor were performed.

Results. Tumor was detected in frozen sections in 78.95 % (30/38) of cases. The mean time from organ removal from the abdominal cavity to macroscopic evaluation was 8–10 minutes, and the total time for histological verification was 30 minutes. The quality control performed on the biobanked material confirms that the developed protocol guarantees that both tumors and normal tissues are represented for further studies.

Conclusion. This paper outlines a method for biobanking fresh prostate tissue removed during radical prostatectomy. The advantage of the method is the use of tissue samples both for diagnosis and for further study at the cellular and molecular levels.