title: Tissue resources for clinical use and marker studies in melanoma.
abstract: The adequate procurement and preservation of high-quality tissue specimens from patients with melanoma is a critical clinical issue as patients' tumor samples are now used not only for pathological diagnosis but are also necessary to determine the molecular signature of the tumor to stratify patients who may benefit from targeted melanoma therapy. Tissue resources available for physicians and investigators include formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue and frozen tissue, either preserved in optimal cutting temperature (OCT) media or snap frozen. Properly preserved tissue may be used to evaluate melanoma biomarkers by immunohistochemistry (IHC) with tissue microarray (TMA) technology, to perform genetic and genomic analyses, and for other types of translational research in melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Curry
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Tiffany L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Calderone
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nathanson
authors.forename: Victor G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Prieto
authors.forename: Jeffrey E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gershenwald
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D005615:Freezing; D005629:Frozen Sections; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000378:metabolism*; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor