In order to exclude bias due to possible tumor heterogeneity, each patient had multiple tissue and tumor punches taken from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks using a tissue cylinder with a diameter of 0.6 mm which were subsequently transferred into one recipient paraffin block using a homemade semiautomated tissue arrayer.
The appropriate tissues were constructed on receptor paraffin blocks using a tissue microarrayer (Beecher Instruments, Silver Spring, MD, 0.6 mm in diameter of cores) [22], [23].
Each target area on the selected blocks was punched to form a 2-mm-diameter tissue core and was placed consecutively on approximately 3 × 2 cm recipient blocks using a tissue microarrayer (Beecher Instrument, Silver Spring, MD, USA).
Tissue microarrays were constructed from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded archival tissue blocks using a tissue arrayer (Beecher Instruments, Silver Spring, MD) according to the previous description [ 29, 30].
Three to five tissue cores (diameter=0.6 mm; height=3 4 mm), which were taken from donor tumour blocks, were placed into recipient paraffin blocks using a tissue microarrayer (Beecher Instruments, Sun Prairie, WI, USA).
Each target area on the selected blocks was punched to form a 2-mm-diameter tissue core, and placed consecutively on ~3 × 2 cm recipient blocks using a tissue microarrayer (Beecher Instrument, Silver Spring, MD).
The tissue blocks were transferred to a recipient "master" block using a Tissue Microarrayer.
Cores were precisely arrayed into a recipient paraffin block using a tissue microarrayer (TMA Grand Master, 3DHistech Ltd).
Cores were placed on the recipient microarray block using a Tissue Microarrayer (Estigen OU, Tartu, Estonia).
Tissue biopsies of 0.6 mm diameter were taken from each donor block and mounted in a recipient block using a tissue array machine.
Four 1.5 mm cores from each FFPE tumor block were precisely arrayed into a new recipient paraffin block using a tissue micro-array system (Beecher Instruments, Silver Spring, MD).
