Previously, it has been shown that prolonged storage (up to three years) of rat brain specimens in methyl salicylate had no detectable effect on the immunoreactivity of common markers of normal and cancer brain cells, such as neuronal nuclear protein, neuron-specific enolase, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), vimentin, nestin, and doublecortin (11). The gene discussed is GFAP; the disease is cancer.