Quality aspects of TMA analysis.

The quality of a TMA experiment can only be as good as the worst step in the entire process. Making and analyzing of tissue microarrays (TMAs) is a complex process involving tissue sample acquisition and preparation, expert histological diagnosis, long-term collection of clinical data, development of suitable laboratory protocols, the microscopic analysis, and the statistical analysis of the experiment. The quality of all these factors equally influences the outcome of TMA studies.