Characterization in healthy human subjects of a method for procuring high quality material for histopathological assessment of cellular proliferation: Buccal punch biopsy

9707 Background: Easily accessible human tissue with a high rate of cell proliferation would be of great utility in the study of antiproliferative agents. The buccal mucosal tissue offers an easily accessible region from which highly proliferating cells can be obtained. In order to investigate the utility of acquiring buccal tissue, we conducted a small feasibility study in healthy male subjects. Objectives were to establish a tolerable procedure, and to determine levels of cell proliferation in the biopsy samples. Methods: Ten subjects underwent the biopsy procedure. Following administration of a local anesthetic (2% lidocaine with adrenaline, AstraZeneca), single punch biopsies (3 mm Stiefel Biopsy Punch, Stiefel Laboratories Ltd, Bucks UK) were taken from the buccal mucosa of each subject and fixed immediately in 10% formal saline for embedding in paraffin. All biopsies were taken within the same 2-hour time window of the 24-hour clock. Results: Two subjects felt momentarily faint after the procedure -...