A novel method of obtaining prostate tissue for gene expression profiling.

Gene expression profiling by DNA microarray analysis is a technique with great promise in cancer biology. The multifocality and heterogeneity of many prostate cancers makes the collection of adequate biological samples for such profiling particularly challenging. Current methods, such as laser capture microdissection, are not widely available and can have significant limitations. In this article, a novel method of prostatic sampling, which does not affect the histopathological assessment of the surgical specimen and provides adequate RNA yield for microarray analysis is described. This method is simple, inexpensive, easily reproducible, and has been validated as having >95% sensitivity and 99% specificity for histological prediction of tissue obtained. This method can be adopted by other investigators to perform DNA microarray analysis on prostate tumors.