Tumor biopsies, analysis

The diagnosis of malignant lymphomas is established by tumor biopsy sample, analysis of the biopsy tissue, and determination of the extent of the disease in the patient. 

The amount of DNA available from tissue samples, especially samples from tumor biopsies, is usually limited. Fortunately, whole-genome amplification has been developed to generate micrograms of DNA for further analysis (52,53). We found similar genotype calls and copy number changes in whole-genome amplified DNA with that using unamplified DNA, as determined by a 10 K SNP array analysis (30). 

Traditional endoscopic and surgical procedures provide whole tumor samples well suited for microscopic examination and analysis in the pathology laboratory. The use of whole tissue tumor biopsies for proteomic studies has, however, raised several important issues that have been well demonstrated in CRC [9]. These include cellular heterogeneity in the different bowel parietal layers (mucosa, submucosa, muscularis mucosa, serosa) that may or may not be infiltrated, epithelial cell diversity in the mucosa itself, tissue infiltration by inflammatory cells such as lymphocytes, contamination with other body fluids, and protein degradation following tumor necrosis. In fact, epithelial cell content was found to vary between 9 and 67% in whole biopsies of normal mucosa and between 7 and 95% in tumor biopsies [10]. This study clearly demonstrates the likelihood of large cellular variation between tissue samples. 

A method of aspirating cells from the tumor via insertion of a small-bore needle into the lesion and aspirating. Commonly used to evaluate lymph nodes or other poorly accessible sites, it has the advantage of being faster and less invasive than other biopsy methods however, it does not preserve the architecture of the tumor and may return cells that are undergoing cell death, which negates histologic analysis. 

Nordgren H, Nilsson S, Runn A-C, et al. Histopathological and immunohisto-chemical analysis of lung tumors description of a convenient technique for use with find needle biopsy. APMIS 1989 97 136-142. 

Angiogenesis is associated with tumor development and many clinical trials have found correlations between vascular density and prognosis. Traditional analysis required biopsy and histology, with CD31 antibodies to provide blood vessel counts [393], and dyes such as India ink or Hoechst 33342 to reveal... 

In this regard, our laboratory demonstrated a method for the quantification of STI571 and its main metabolite, CGP 74588, in human plasma using a semi-automated PPT method and a relatively rapid LC/APCI/MS/MS analysis. The assay exhibited an excellent linearity from 4.00 to 10,000 ng/mL in human plasma. The method was utilized for the analysis of thousands of clinical samples. Furthermore, the method was routinely amenable to analysis of STI571 and CGP 74588 in cerebrospinal fluids (CSF), gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) biopsy specimens, and toxicokinetic studies (data not shown). 

Human health biomonitoring may also use animal surrogates in the environment to assess potential health hazards to humans - the proverbial canary in the coal mine . For example, chemical and biomarker analysis of bodily fluids or tissue biopsies from family pets, especially dogs, are sometimes used to assess potential chemical exposure and effects in children. This is because dogs often accompany children in the outdoor environment, and both have a tendency to (accidentally or intentionally) consume environmental media such as soil and surface water There has also been an increasing trend to use native animals as sentinel species, that is, fish, wildlife, or invertebrates that are indicators of possible human health risks from environmental hazards. For example, increased incidences of tumors or endocrine disruption in fish may indicate the presence of compounds in the water that may cause cancer or reproductive dysfunction in humans. Concern has also been raised over the increased incidence of deformities in frogs, because these may indicate an increased level of chemicals in the environment, which can cause birth defects in humans. 

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