2020 Volume 69 Issue 4 Pages 660-670
In recent years, several guidelines have recommended tissue fixation with 10% neutral buffered formalin solution (10% NBFS) to ensure the quality of companion diagnosis and specimens used for cancer genome medicine. When the Japanese Association of Medical Technologists (JAMT) conducted photo surveillances of histopathological examinations, JAMT has also been conducting questionnaire surveys and education since 2015 in order to standardize the procedures of tissue fixation in Japan. The adoption rate of 10% NBFS increased over time from 38.5% (416/1,081 pts) to 80.0% (902/1,127 pts) for biopsy specimens and from 31.6% (342/1,081 pts) to 72.1% (805/1,116 pts) for surgical specimens from the start of the survey to 2019. The facilities that refused to adopt 10% NBFS cited its little use in experiments and poor fixation capability as their reasons. On the other hand, the survey results suggest that the facilities that adopted 10% NBFS are actively responding to companion diagnosis. In the survey of tissue fixation time in 2017, most facilities completely fixed both biopsy and surgical specimens within 72 hours. The facilities that completed fixation with 10% NBFS within 48 hours were 59.6% for biopsy specimens and 41.9% for surgical specimens. In the future, we should improve the fixation procedure for the standardization of histopathological examination and the qualitative preservation of specimens, so that no patients will be disadvantaged in any region.