Jennifer Englin in Willmar, Minnesota asks:

>>I am wondering how other labs section radical prostates. Meat slicer, 
scaple, etc.?  We currently use a scaple and the sections really very in 
thickness - just wondering what's out there?<<

I guess you mean a scalpel. I've never had anything but a long scalpel blade, 
though a disposable microtome blade - as someone later suggested -  might be 
worth trying. That really should be sufficient. 

These are difficult specimens. They must fix at least overnight before you 
cut them. They should be covered with india ink before dissection. You must 
make sure you can tell right from left, and your pathologist may not know how 
to do this. (It's helpful to know which side the tumor is supposed to be on, 
but you usually can't get this information.) If you can find the tumor in the 
slabs, its relationship to the inked surfaces is important. If you can't find 
the tumor, you need to sample the gland extensively, and be prepared to 
submit all of it. The apex requires multiple small parasagittal sections.

Wonder if there's a Web page with a picture. Maybe I should post one. As I 
said, these are difficult specimens.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN