Prostate Biopsy Processing

Objectives: Current protocols for processing multiple prostate biopsy cores per case are uneconomical and cumbersome. Tissue fragmentation and loss compromise cancer diagnosis. We sought to study an alternate method to improve processing and diagnosis of prostate cancer. Methods: Two sets of sextant biopsy specimens from near-identical locations were obtained ex vivo from 48 prostate specimens. One set was processed in the standard fashion while the other was processed using the BxChip, a proprietary biomimetic matrix that accommodates six cores on a single chip. Parameters including grossing, embedding, sectioning and reading time, length of tissue, and degree of fragmentation were compared. Results: A significant reduction (more than threefold) in preanalytical and analytical time was observed using the multiplex method. Nonlinear fragmentation was absent, in contrast to standard processing. Conclusions: The BxChip reduced tissue fragmentation and increased efficiency of prostate biopsy diagnosis. It also resulted in overall cost savings and significantly increased tissue length.