Table 3.

The table summarizes the results of DNA and RNA integrity checks according to fixation conditions. Abbreviations: AA = anaplastic astrocytoma; AOA = anaplastic oligoastrocytoma; bp = base pairs; DA = diffuse astrocytoma; DNA = deoxyribonucleic acid; GBM = glioblastoma multiforme; PXA = pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma; RNA = ribonucleic acid.

ID	Histo‐Nr.	Histological diagnosis	Fixation type	Fixation time (days)	Amplifiable DNA reference genes (bp)	Amplifiable RNA reference genes (bp)
1	N1420‐08	GBM	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238
2	N225‐09	GBM	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238
3	N234‐09	GBM	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 377
4	N1366‐08	Meningothelial meningioma	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 377
5	N1369‐08	Metastasis (carcinoma)	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 377
6	N392‐09	GBM	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	2	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	2	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238
7	N401‐09	AOA	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	2	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	2	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 377
8	N98‐09	Medulloblastoma	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	3	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	1	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238
9	N1509‐08	GBM	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	na
			RCL2	3	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	3	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238
10	N1377‐08	DA	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	3	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 377
			Formalin	3	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238
11	N1492‐08	DA	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	3	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 377
			Formalin	3	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238
12	N87‐09	AA	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			RCL2	6	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	3	100, 200, 300, 400	238
13	N191‐09	PXA	Frozen		100, 200, 300, 400, 600	na
			RCL2	8	100, 200, 300, 400, 600	238, 295, 377
			Formalin	8	100, 200, 300, 400	238

Nucleic acid degradation was estimated by evaluation of the length of reference DNA fragments generated in a multiplex PCR system, respectively. In the presence of undegraded DNA, reference DNA fragments of 100, 200, 300, 400 and 600 bp are expected. In the presence of undegraded RNA, reference gene amplificates of 238, 295 and 377 bp are expected. Failure to amplify reference DNA fragments indicates DNA or RNA degradation, respectively.