THE DIAGNOSIS OF CARCINOMA IN TRANS-URETHRAL RESECTATES OF THE PROSTATE - A STUDY OF THE PROBABILITY OF OVERLOOKING MALIGNANT-TISSUE WHEN ONLY PART OF THE MATERIAL IS EMBEDDED FOR HISTOLOGICAL EXAMINATION
The purpose of this retrospective study based on the findings in routinely processed material from 52 consecutive [human] cases of prostatic carcinomas is a mathematical calculation of the probability of including a carcinoma in the histological sections from tissue obtained by transurethral resection of the prostate when different embedding practices are followed. The analysis shows that if a material of a composition similar to that of this study were examined, the calculated probability to include at least 1 prostatic chip with malignant tissue in the histological sections would be about 91% if 1 paraffin-block is made. The probability increases to about 96% when 2 blocks are used and comes close to 99% with 4 blocks.