Table 6

Comparison of the four protocols for quantity and quality of extracted RNA for only samples that produced biologically-useful RNA (RIN ≥ 1.4) in recently archived months old FFPE samples. Case success is defined for each protocol as the percentage of samples where at least one of three RNA extraction attempts provided a RIN ≥ 1.4.

Months old samples:

Protocol 1
Protocol 2
Protocol 3
Protocol 4

FFPE tissue input

80 μm
10 μm
20 μm
50 μm
Successful extractions

34/42 (81%)
34/42 (81%)
39/42 (93%)
35/42 (83%)
Case success

14/14 (100%)
14/14 (100%)
14/14 (100%)
14/14 (100%)
RNA (pg/μl)
Minimum value
76
152
987
34

Maximum value
185,703
259,012
115,194
2,209,739

Mean
24,818
64,317
26,843
180,584

Median
14,781
48,255
15,146
51,245
Minimum RIN of 1.4
Minimum value
1.5
1.6
1.4
1.4

Maximum value
5.1
2.7
2.6
4.9

Mean
2.3
2.1
2.3
2.3

Median
2.3
2.0
2.4
2.2

Ribeiro-Silva et al. BMC Molecular Biology 2007 8:118   doi:10.1186/1471-2199-8-118