Figure 1.

Importance of manual microdissection as a prerequisite for reliable and reproducible analyses in molecular pathology. (A–D) A typical lung specimen with five biopsies, of which one contained malignant cells; only this biopsy should be used for molecular analyses. The tumour area must therefore be primarily prepared microscopically from the paraffin block before being analysed. (E) Further analytical steps. (F) Example of a pathology report combining morphological and molecular results as a prerequisite for treatment of a patient with a targeted drug. (G) All tests should be accompanied by external quality assurance, such as ‘Qualitätssicherungs-Initiative Pathologie’ (QuIP).