Constructing tissue microarrays without prefabricating recipient blocks - A novel approach

Tissue microarray (TMA) is a powerful research tool and is applied in such diverse areas as tumor marker validation and laboratory quality control. Existing TMA construction techniques require an essential step of prefabricating recipient paraffin blocks on which holes are punched so that tissue cores can be inserted. This procedure has several disadvantages, such as accidental block breakage during hole punching and difficulty ensuring that the cores are flush with the block surface. We developed a novel TMA construction technique without prefabricating recipient blocks. We used double-sided adhesive tape attached to x-ray film as an adhesive platform on which the tissue cores were placed securely. The array of tissue cores then was embedded in an embedding mold. We have been making high-quality TMAs with up to 220 cores within 2 to 3 hours using this highly dependable, efficient, versatile, and cost-effective technique, which can be adopted by pathology laboratories and researchers with minimal investment.