Table 5.

Specific key recommendations for biopsy specimen handling.

• Collect FFPE blocks specifically for molecular diagnostic testing (i.e. >20% tumour content and tumour cell rich) and clearly label them; this avoids tissue exhaustion and enables easy retrieval in the future

• Ensure pathologist is aware of potential future use of the specimens, particularly core needle biopsy, so they use minimal amount for histopathology, including immunohistochemistry; retain material from biopsies containing a significant amount of confirmed tumour material

• Embed multiple core needle biopsies in one FFPE block rather than pooling slides from different blocks to provide a DNA sample

• Consider DNA extraction from tissue samples at the time of diagnosis that can still provide sufficient quantity and quality of DNA; extracted DNA samples take minimal space in a freezer and, if appropriately extracted and stored, can last for decades without affecting quality.