LAUSR

Cell blocks represent one of several cytology preparations, and play a significant role in providing tissue for ancillary studies, including immunohistochemistry and molecular testing. To the authors’ knowledge, there currently is no standardized cell block processing method, and cellular yield often is suboptimal. To overcome the shortcomings of available methods, the authors developed a novel disposable cell block device, XCellent, that uses centrifugation to collect cells into a sample chamber. The sample chamber contains and protects the specimen during tissue processing and also is embedded and sectioned. The primary objectives of the current study were to compare cellular yield, cytomorphological detail, and processing times of HistoGel and XCellent.