Guidelines and considerations for conducting experiments using tissue microarrays |
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| Authors: | Mohammad Ilyas Heike Grabsch Ian O Ellis Chris Womack Robert Brown Dan Berney Dean Fennell Manuel Salto‐Tellez Martin Jenkins Goran Landberg Richard Byers Darren Treanor David Harrison Andrew R Green Graham Ball Peter Hamilton |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Molecular Medical Sciences, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham University, , Nottingham, UK;2. Section of Pathology and Tumour Biology, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, St James's University Hospital, , Leeds, UK;3. Department of Histopathology, Manchester Royal Infirmary, , Manchester, UK;4. AstraZeneca Oncology Innovative Medicines, , Macclesfield, Cheshire, UK;5. Epigenetics Unit, 4th Floor IRDB, Hammersmith Hospital, , London, UK;6. Department of Pathology, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, , London, UK;7. University of Leicester and Leicester University Hospitals, , Leicester, UK;8. Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, University Road, , Belfast, UK;9. St James University Hospital, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, , Leeds, UK;10. School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, , St Andrews, Fife, UK;11. John Van Geest Cancer Research Centre, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, , Nottingham, UK;12. PathXL Ltd, Northern Ireland Science Park, , Belfast, UK;13. Bioimaging and Informatics, Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, Queen's University Belfast, , Belfast, UK |
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| Abstract: | Tissue microarrays (TMAs) represent a powerful method for undertaking large‐scale tissue‐based biomarker studies. While TMAs offer several advantages, there are a number of issues specific to their use which need to be considered when employing this method. Given the investment in TMA‐based research, guidance on design and execution of experiments will be of benefit and should help researchers new to TMA‐based studies to avoid known pitfalls. Furthermore, a consensus on quality standards for TMA‐based experiments should improve the robustness and reproducibility of studies, thereby increasing the likelihood of identifying clinically useful biomarkers. In order to address these issues, the National Cancer Research Institute Biomarker and Imaging Clinical Studies Group organized a 1‐day TMA workshop held in Nottingham in May 2012. The document herein summarizes the conclusions from the workshop. It includes guidance and considerations on all aspects of TMA‐based research, including the pre‐analytical stages of experimental design, the analytical stages of data acquisition, and the postanalytical stages of data analysis. A checklist is presented which can be used both for planning a TMA experiment and interpreting the results of such an experiment. For studies of cancer biomarkers, this checklist could be used as a supplement to the REMARK guidelines. |
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| Keywords: | data interpretation experimental design guidance tissue microarray |
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