Using tissue adjacent to carcinoma as a normal control: an obvious but questionable practice
Open Access
- 14 April 2004
- journal article
- perspective
- Published by Wiley in The Journal of Pathology
- Vol. 203 (2) , 620-621
- https://doi.org/10.1002/path.1549
Abstract
When carcinoma tissue is investigated using biochemical, immunohistochemical, and genetic techniques, adjacent tissue that is macroscopically normal is frequently used as a control, since cancer-related pheno- and geno-typic alterations are assumed to be absent. However, a field that contains genetically abnormal cells surrounds a significant proportion of carcinomas (for example, over 30% of head and neck cancers). These fields can be large (>7 cm in diameter) and consist of cells that are clonally related to the carcinoma. This indicates that adjacent epithelium must be checked for genetic abnormalities before it is considered normal and used as a control for comparison with carcinoma. Copyright © 2004 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Keywords
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