| Peripheral Blood |
If a normal or elevated WBC is generated, a single 5 cc EDTA tube will be adequate for up to 10 surface markers. The preferred anticoagulant is EDTA (lavender). Specimens should remain at room temperature. |
| Bone Marrow |
1-2 cc of aspirate in EDTA is sufficient for most panels. All specimens must be refrigerated. |
| Body Fluid |
Fluids (e.g. pleural, peritoneal, etc) must be submitted in a sterile tube or container. The specimen should be kept refrigerated. |
| Solid Tissue (e.g., lymph node) |
The specimen must be kept moist and refrigerated (not frozen). Collect the tissue specimen and place in a 15 ml sterile tube containing RPMI 1640 or MEM media. The specimen must be kept refrigerated and processed within 24 hours following removal from the patient. Please submit the diagnosis with the specimen. |
| Solid Tissue- Small Tissue sections |
Fresh tissue is submitted as a scraping of the tissue or a piece of the tissue that is at least 1 gram. A specimen measuring 0.5 cm cubed is generally of adequate size; however, smaller specimens may be suitable if the tissue is highly cellular. The specimen must be kept refrigerated. Tissue may also be obtained by scraping the tumor with either the edge of a glass slide or scalpel. 5-6 scrapes are usually sufficient. Wash the scraping into a 15 ml centrifuge tube with RPMI 1640 media. Significant visual turbidity generally indicates sufficient cells have been collected for analysis. The specimen must be kept refrigerated. These specimens must be processed within 24 hours of collection for best results. |