The renaissance of multipurpose AMeX method over conventional tissue processing method in the current diagnostic era: a comparative study.

Many attempts have been made to simplify tissue fixation and processing prior to hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and genomic DNA extraction. The acetone-methyl benzoate-xylene (AMeX) method, is gaining popularity as an alternative to aqueous formaldehyde fixation followed by alcohol dehydration. We have assessed the efficacy of AMeX for the quality of extracted genomic DNA in addition to H&E and IHC in biopsy specimens of human oral mucosal lesions of size not more than 1 cm. H&E staining showed similar results when AMeX method was compared with conventional fixation and processing. Improved IHC staining quality was observed in the sections of AMeX-processed tissue, as were improved quality and quantity of genomic DNA.