CORE--TISSUE PROCUREMENT

University Of Colorado Denver, Aurora CO

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Description: (Applicant's Description) The Tissue Procurement Core provides well-characterized human tumors and materials derived from human tumors to Cancer Center and other funded investigators for research in human cancer. The Core provides not only morphological services but also tissue products suitable for molecular studies and clinicopathological information that strengthens the translational importance of the work being done by Cancer Center investigators. Central processing of tissue and aliquoting of products by the Core permits the distribution of small quantities of well-characterized molecular reagents to a maximum number of investigators. The Core obtains samples of remnant tissue and correlative information from clinical specimens obtained during the course of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and prepares high quality molecular reagents from these samples. In the past the Core has prospectively obtained tissues only for specific funded projects. In the forthcoming funding period, the Core will collect remnant tissue specimens from all cancer-related surgical procedures performed at the University of Colorado Hospital and these specimens will be maintained in a tissue bank. The Core will cooperates with the Clinical Investigation Core to obtain and store relevant data from these patients. In return, the Core provides correlative histopathological, phenotypic and genotypic information related to the specimens it collects to data managers in other Cancer center programs such and the Experimental Therapeutics and the Clinical and Community Cancer Prevention and Control Programs. Organ-based pathology subspecialists contribute anatomic expertise in the implementation of tissue collection protocols and verify histopathological classification of specimens collected by the Core. Investigators are provided with frozen tissue fragments, tissue sections, DNA, RNA, and cells purified by microdissection from tumors, premalignant lesions and matched normal control tissue. New technologies such as oligonucleotide array technology or quantitative RT-PCR are expected to increase the need for purified or partially purified tumor cell populations and products derived from those populations. Continued development of new cell and tissue fractionation procedures including selection of cells by frozen sectioning, laser microdissection and tissue arrays by the Core is expected to increase the accessibility of human tissues for study by Cancer Center investigators.