Table 1.

Comparative analysis of clinical outpatient vs. operating room tissue collection.

Considerations	Outpatient Clinic	OR/Surgical Resection
Patient report	(+) More relaxed atmosphere; Patients are more willing to listen to ongoing research efforts, ask questions, etc.	(−) Patients are usually anxious about surgery and less willing to engage in conversation/ questions asked about the disease
Collection of tissue samples	(+) Patients will be more willing to provide smaller tissue sections for research biospecimens (+) Allows for biopsies of lesional, perilesional, and unaffected tissue all from the same patient (−) Tissue section size will be limited/smaller (approx. 2-4 mm)	(+) Surgical removal of tissue is both therapeutic and allows for research biospecimens (-) More difficult to collect various tissue sections (+) Larger tissue sections
Healing time	(+) Smaller biopsies can be sutured for faster healing	(−) Open wounds require longer healing time and increase the risk of post-surgical infections
Collection of other biospecimens	(+) Very feasible to collect samples including saliva	(−) Usually not feasible, especially considering coordination needed with OR team.
Time	(−) If the clinic schedule is delayed, patients are less willing to participate	(−) The OR schedule can be delayed
Anatomy/Structure of lesions	(−) Only allows for surface examination of the lesions	(+) Allows full visualization of the anatomic location of lesions, including epithelization, sinus tracts, etc.
Cost	(+) Less expensive	(−) More expensive