[Histonet] weird prostate

[Jacqueline Miller]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know what would cause the glandula of the prostate to open
up wide so that they're like huge holes.  My sections look like I've cut
swiss cheese.  Under the microscope, the basal layer is usually still
present, but the epithelium is all disintegrated in the middle of what's
left of the gland.  Not all of my prostate samples do this--some look
fine.  It mostly seems to happen with larger BPH samples.  

My samples usually sit in formalin for at least 24 hours, but not more
than 72 hours (over a weekend).  Then, they sit in 70% EtOH until they
are processed (for up to a week).  The processing is as follows:

70% EtOH - 2 hrs
70% EtOH - 2 hrs
80% EtOH - 2 hrs
95% EtOH - 2 hrs
95% EtOH - 2 hrs
100% EtOH - 2 hrs
100% EtOH - 2 hrs
50:50 - 2 hrs
xylene - 2 hrs
xylene - 2 hrs
paraffin - 2 hrs
paraffin - 2 hrs

I don't think it's a sectioning problem because if you look at the block
at the right angle, you can see that the sample itself looks like swiss
cheese.

I appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks in advance,
Jacqueline Miller
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, TX