Peritumoral tissue: increasing need for naming convention

Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and partner institutions highlight the need for a more harmonized and accurate approach to naming, collecting, and describing samples of non-cancerous tissue in the proximity of a tumour from patients with cancer in order to facilitate future research into these distinct tissue types. The researchers present their rationale in a new article published in the British Journal of Cancer.

The study of such non-tumoral tissues in order to better understand the molecular and genomic changes that lead to cancer is the focus of increasing interest, and findings have been promising.

The authors of the article aim to promote awareness within the scientific community of the fact that most so-called “normal” tissues are not healthy, even if they appear as such when examined grossly and morphologically. Scientists should also be aware of the importance of the location of sampling and the method used to extract the tissues.

For this article, the researchers reviewed the literature and listed the most common, but non-harmonized, terms used to describe these tissues. They call for a standard naming convention and propose the neutral and comprehensive term “peritumoral tissue”, to be used and included in standard operating procedures for the collection of biological samples. Additionally, they provide recommendations on the gross features and elements that need to be documented during sample collection and offer recommendations on how to proceed when faced with specific challenging features, such as cystic components, haemorrhage, and necrosis.

Koca D, Abedi-Ardekani B, LeMaoult J, Guyon L.
Peritumoral tissue (PTT): increasing need for naming convention
Br J Cancer. Published online 2 September 2024;
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-024-02828-y

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