Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine

Original Articles

Frozen section histopathology and preanalytical factors affecting nucleic acid integrity in biobanked fresh-frozen human cancer tissues: Soungeun Kim, Jaewon Kang, Boyeon Kim, Yoonjin Kwak, Hye Seung Lee; J Pathol Transl Med. 2025;59(6):398-407. Published online September 12, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4132/jptm.2025.07.22

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Background
In this study, we evaluated the effects of storage duration and ischemic time on nucleic acid quality of fresh-frozen tissue (FFT) from colon adenocarcinoma (COAD), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) collected at the Cancer Tissue Bank of Seoul National University Hospital. Methods: A total of 102 FFT samples were analyzed to compare DNA integrity number (DIN) and RNA integrity number (RIN) according to storage duration and ischemic time. Additionally, the effects of histopathologic features—such as tumor cell proportion, inflammatory cell infiltration, and stromal fibrosis—on nucleic acid quality were evaluated. Results: DIN and RIN remained stable overall even though the storage duration increased, with no statistically significant differences observed. In particular, there was almost no decrease in RNA quality in HCC and RCC samples, but in COAD samples, RIN tended to decrease slightly as the storage duration increased. No significant difference was confirmed between ischemic time and nucleic acid quality, but in COAD tissue, RNA quality variability tended to increase as the ischemic time increased. Furthermore, RIN increased as the tumor cell proportion increased, whereas inflammatory cell infiltration and extracellular mucin pool were identified as independent negative predictors of RIN. Conclusions: This study confirmed that nucleic acid integrity can be maintained even during long-term storage of FFT and demonstrated that histologic features are closely related to RNA quality. This study would contribute to the establishment of quality assessment and management standards for biobank FFT samples.

Citations

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Day surgery mode of multi-modal image AI fusion targeted transperineal biopsy technique using electromagnetic navigation tracking system under local anesthesia
Zhiyong Liu, Jianhe Wu, Yuanwei Li, Qiang Lu, Yongjun Yang
BMC Urology.2026;[Epub] CrossRef

Quality Control Program for Fresh Frozen Tissue and Its Results of Chonbuk National University Hospital National Biobank of Korea.: Shin Young Park, Hyun Ah Baek, Hyoung Jong Kwak, Sang Hyun Hong, Ho Sung Park, Kyu Yun Jang, Woo Sung Moon, Myoung Jae Kang, Dong Geun Lee, Myoung Ja Chung; Korean J Pathol. 2010;44(3):295-301.; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4132/KoreanJPathol.2010.44.3.295

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Abstract PDF

BACKGROUND
Molecular tools for tissue profiling generally require collection of fresh frozen tissues (FFT) as sources of high-quality DNA and RNA. Nowadays, researchers carry out large-scale, multi-center studies and they request inter-institutional minimal intrinsic bias, some fundamental similarities, and the same standardized and validated procedures.
METHODS
This study reports standardized quality control procedure for fresh frozen tissue of the National Biobank of Korea.
RESULTS
The main procedures for quality control for FFT are as follows: records related to sample collection such as labeling of samples, transport temperature, lag time from excision of tissue to freezing, and sample size were reviewed for all fresh frozen samples. The stability of RNA and DNA in fresh frozen tissue was evaluated for 3% of collected samples and purity was assessed (ratio of the absorbance at 260 and 280 nm) as was integrity (agarose gel electrophoresis). Stained hematoxylin and eosin sections were reviewed by a pathologist to confirm the diagnosis and to assess how representative the frozen sample was.
CONCLUSIONS
We introduced that the quality-control criteria for fresh frozen tissue of the NBK. We expect that this study contributes to standardization of collection, storage, and quality control of fresh frozen tissue.

Citations

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Influence of Cold Ischemia Time and Storage Period on DNA Quality and Biomarker Research in Biobanked Colorectal Cancer Tissues
Min Gyoung Pak, Mee Sook Roh
Kosin Medical Journal.2020; 35(1): 26. CrossRef

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