The principal challenges facing PCR-based analyses of DNA extracted from formalin-fixed materials are fragmentation of the DNA and cross-linked protein-DNA complexes. Here, we present an efficient protocol to extract DNA from formalin-fixed or paraffin-embedded tissues (FFPE). In this protocol, protein-DNA cross-links are reversed using heat and alkali treatment, yielding significantly longer fragments and larger amounts of PCR-amplifiable DNA than standard DNA extraction protocols.