PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Guerini-Rocco, Elena
AU  - Taormina, Sergio Vincenzo
AU  - Vacirca, Davide
AU  - Ranghiero, Alberto
AU  - Rappa, Alessandra
AU  - Fumagalli, Caterina
AU  - Maffini, Fausto
AU  - Rampinelli, Cristiano
AU  - Galetta, Domenico
AU  - Tagliabue, Marta
AU  - Ansarin, Mohssen
AU  - Barberis, Massimo
TI  - SARS-CoV-2 detection in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from surgical resection of tongue squamous cell carcinoma
AID  - 10.1136/jclinpath-2020-206635
DP  - 2020 Nov 01
TA  - Journal of Clinical Pathology
PG  - 754--757
VI  - 73
IP  - 11
4099  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/73/11/754.short
4100  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/73/11/754.full
SO  - J Clin Pathol2020 Nov 01; 73
AB  - In the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, pathologists can be exposed to infection handling surgical specimens. Guidelines related to safety procedures in the laboratory have been released. However, there is a lack of studies performed on biopsy and surgical resection specimens. Here we report the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from surgical resection of tongue squamous cell carcinoma of a patient who developed COVID-19 postsurgery. RNA of SARS-CoV-2 strain was detected in the tumour and the normal submandibular gland samples using real-time PCR-based assay. No viral RNA was found in metastatic and reactive lymph nodes. We demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in routine histopathological samples even before COVID-19 disease development. These findings may give important information on the possible sites of infection or virus reservoir, and highlight the necessity of proper handling and fixation before sample processing.