Tissue MicroArray: a revolution in pathology research

Tissue microarray (TMA) is a recent innovation in the field of pathology, which is now available in Tissue Diagnostic and Cancer Research Institute, Emek Medical Center. Nowadays this automated technique became a favorite tool in tissue diagnostic researches.

Tissue microarrays are paraffin blocks produced by extracting cylindrical tissue cores from different paraffin donor blocks and re-embedding these into a single recipient (microarray) block at defined array coordinates. Using this technique, dozens of tissue samples can be arrayed into a single paraffin block. This means that instead of applying histochemical and immunohistochemical stains on dozens of slides, the research will contain single slides only. Thus, the cost benefit allows carrying out research projects on tissue samples, which could not be performed before because of budget limitations. Additionally, the technique permits simultaneous analysis of molecular targets at the DNA, mRNA, and protein levels under identical, standardized conditions on a single glass slide, and also provides maximal preservation and use of limited and irreplaceable archival tissue samples. This versatile technique, in which data analysis is automated, facilitates retrospective and prospective human and animal tissue studies. It is a practical and effective tool for high-throughput molecular analysis of tissues that is helping to identify new diagnostic and prognostic markers and targets in cancer research, and has a range of potential applications in basic research, prognostic oncology and drug discovery.