Table 6.

Overview of literature

Article	Content	N	Year	Pro or contra partial
Hall et al 199212	Gross tumour containing sections, versus alternate versus entire slices. Detection of>90% pT3a tumours and >95% of surgical margins with a threefold reduction of blocks with limited sampling guided by grossly visible tumour. Comment Multifocal or additional carcinoma detected in additional tissue embedded. No follow-up analysis	104	1989–1990	Pro
Cohen et al 19949	Complete versus alternate embedding with whole mount sections. Detection of 85% of pT3a tumours. Comment multifocal carcinoma detected when complete prostate was examined Surgical margins not assessed No follow-up analysis	52	1994	Pro
Hollenbeck et al 200013	Complete whole-mount sections with partial sampling; matched cohorts. No difference in cohorts for margins status, EPE, Gleason score Detection of 88% of surgical margins and 93% for pT3a disease. Comment No follow-up analysis	93 complete and 554 partial	1996–2000	Pro
Sehdev et al 20018	Retrospective comparison of 10 sampling alternatives. Involved surgical margins identified in 71%–100%; 85%–96% of pT3a tumours. Comment All partial methods comprised complete assessment of posterior aspect No follow-up analysis	78	1989–1997	Pro
Grossfeld et al 200011	Review of cases complete versus non-complete embedding. No difference in Gleason score, stage or margin status but trend to higher risk of PSA recurrence Comment Methods of pathological processing not specified Study hampered by lack of control of confounding factors between groups. *Suggest that PSA monitoring of more importance than pathological findings	1383	1995–1998	Contra*
Desai et al 20025	Whole-mount close step versus partial sampling. Improved detection (55% vs 34%) of EPE (PT2>pT3a/pT3b) with close-step sectioning. Surgical margins showed no significant difference. Poorer outcome with partial embedding	249 complete and 682 partial	1993–1999	Contra
Vainer et al 201116	Complete versus alternate slice sampling. 0.8% upstaging from pT2 to pT3a. 0.4% the surgical margin status was changed.	238	2007–2008	Pro
Llanos et al 201215	Complete versus alternate slice sampling 98% pT3a and 100% of surgical margins. Comment No follow-up	48	2012	Pro
Iremashvili et al 20136 7	Both studies compared complete embedding versus three different partial embedding methods. Partial embedding detected 79% –87%–95% of involved surgical margins and 54%–73%–93% of pT3a cancers with alternate slides. Comment No follow-up	1499 (617)	1992–2012	Both contra
Fadul et al 201610	Partial embedding versus supplemental complete inclusion of peripheral tissues as described by Kim et al.20 Increased detection of surgical margins (+11%), upstaging to pT3a (+4%) Comment Not compared with complete embedding (in most cases) No follow-up	148	2015	Contra
Kim et al 200914	Complete versus five partial embedding techniques. Partial embedding plus peripheral rim considered optimal Comment No follow-up	148	2009	Pro

EPE, extraprostatic extension.