SPECIMEN CENTRAL BLOG

New biopsy method aims to reduce unintended spread of living cancer cells

NOVEMBER 4, 2010 - A novel biopsy technology called "Anti-Seeding" prevents possible spread of detached cells directly when cancerous tissue samples are taken, according to researchers with Sweden's Karolinska Institute. The researchers' findings were recently published British Journal of Cancer.

In contrast to conventional fine needle biopsy, when collected blood droplets from patients were studied under the Anti-Seeding method, researchers found that living cancer cells had disappeared completely. Bleeding caused by biopsies also decreased. Researchers could also prove that tumor sample quality was not deteriorated by the new technology, and that patients didn't feel more pain than from ordinary fine-needle biopsy.

 

Work group establishes biospecimen collection, storage, and processing standards for traumatic brain injury (TBI)

NOVEMBER 1, 2010 - To realize the full potential of biospecimens in traumatic brain injury research, a workgroup has adopted recommended standardization and adoption of best practice guidelines for sample collection, storage, and processing, according to an article in this month's Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

"Human biospecimens and biofluids represent an important resource from which molecular data can be generated to detect and classify injury and to identify molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets."

 

French study: FFPE samples less accurate than frozen for detection of renal carcinoma

SEPT. 1, 2010 - DNA quality of FFPE clear cell renal cell carcinoma samples was highly degraded and significantly less amplified by PCR compared with those previously determined from frozen samples, according to researchers with Rennes University Hospital in France whose finding were published in the September edition of Urologic Oncology.

"Mutations-identified tissues are not strictly concordant with those from frozen analysis and therefore results obtained from FFPE samples should be interpreted with care," the researchers concluded.

 

FSH marker may Improve cancer detection

Researchers from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, working with French government scientists, say this common link may offer a new target for the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. They evaluated tumor tissue samples from 1,336 men and women with 11 common cancers, including prostate, breast, colon, pancreatic, lung, liver and ovarian. The analyses revealed the presence of the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) receptor in the blood vessel cells of the tumors.

 

Minnesota State Fair 'DNA Booth' proves popular

AUG. 27, 2010 - University of Minnesota researchers who established a children's specimen collection booth at the Minnesota State Fair have been pleased with the public's response to the initiative. Their goal by Labor Day is to collect DNA and health information from 500 children, along with their biological parents, for research that could ultimately map out the genetics of healthy children -- and thereby identify the genetics that lead to childhood diseases. This initial phase is simply to evaluate whether the fair works for recruitment, and whether families return for follow-up screenings in 2011 and 2012. Read more about the University's DNA sample collection effort.

 

Australia launches world's first biobank specialized in the elderly and aging

AUG. 24, 2010 -  The Aussies have launched the world's first biobank dedicated to advancing research into prevention and early diagnosis of disease in the elderly.  The ASPREE Healthy Ageing Biobank is a blood bank of samples from 100,000 seniors collected in collaboration with CSIRO, Monash University, Melbourne University, the Australian National University and the Menzies Research Institute.

 

Patient struggles with hospital to obtain her own biospecimen

AUG. 3, 2010 -  One's own tumor tissue may not be your own property, according to a story appearing in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The article calls attention to conflicts and tensions between patient care and biomedical research. In our opinion, the primacy and wishes of the patient  must be respected ahead of all other concerns, or the whole field of US biomarker research may be as risk. One would hope that hospitals and researchers are able to make concessions before lawmakers intervene.

 

Genetic changes linked to diet, alcohol could predict breast cancer severity

AUG. 2, 2010 - In a study of stage I to IV breast tumor samples, researchers are beginning to uncover the promise of tumour epigenetic signatures to provide more detailed tumour staging, and eventually prediction of prognosis.

Epigenetics is the control of patterns of gene expression in cells, which give rise to the necessary differences responsible for creating the complex and interacting tissues in the body.

The story makes us wonder about  segmentation of tissue samples, and the challenges of identifying and validating data associated with a broad variety of (largely self-reported) patient lifestyle and behavioral history.

 

BioServe tissue network expanded to include Windber biobank

JULY 20, 2010 - Under a new exclusive agreement Pennsylvania-based Windber Research Institute (WRI) has joined the BioServe global tissue network.

The strategic alliance faciliates the provision of a host of cancer specimens as well as non-diseased tissues from Windber's affiliated clinics and medical centers to BioServe's commercial distribution operation.

 

ATCC awarded multimillion dollar contract to establish infectious disease biorepositrory

JULY 14, 2010 - The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases today awarded ATCC a contract to establish an infectious disease biorepository.

The contract for the "Biological Resource Repository," or MID-BRR, is potentially worth $115 million over 7 years.  ATCC is a biological materials resource, services, and standards organization.

The MID-BRR will provide the federal government with a central biorepository for the acquisition, authentication, production, preservation, storage, and distribution of a broad range of unique and quality-assured research materials for the infectious disease research community. It will encompass biodefense, non-biodefense, and emerging infectious disease research materials covering the more than 270 organisms in NIAID's Division of Microbiology and Infectious Disease research portfolio.

Source

 

Brigham & Women's to establish 100,000-subject, annotated population-based biobank, gene database

JULY 13, 2010 -  The Brigham study will start later this month with a pilot phase that will recruit 600 patients through six clinics, according to the Boston Globe.

Dr. Isaac Kohane is one of the principal investigators of the Gene Partnership Project.

The Globe's full story is found here.

 

Solid tumors lead the way for investigative cancer therapeutics

According to the 2009 Medicines in Development report issued by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, solid tumor indications represent the greatest focus for the number of drugs in development. Following is a ranking of the number of oncology trials currently under way.

Medicines in Development for Cancer

Solid tumors - 203

Urogenital - 170

Myeloma & lymphomas - 156

Gastrointestinal - 132

Leukemia - 129

Breast cancer - 106

Gynecologic - 76

Skin cancer - 67

Brain tumors - 61

Endocrine - 54

Head & neck - 34

Bone cancer - 27

 

 

German National Cohort to bank biospecimens from 40,000+ healthy volunteers

July 9, 2010 - The German National Cohort will collect traditional blood and urine samples, health assessments and lifestyle questionnaires, and scan the brain, heart and other organs of 40,000+ healthy subjects, ages 20 to 69, using magnetic resonance imaging.

It will then take until 2017 before all the subjects are recruited and their health information and tissue samples are banked, according to Erich Wichmann, of the Helmoltz Centrum Munchen, at the Euroscience Open Forum meeting in Torino, Italy, this week.

Source: Science Business

 

Genetic study of Scottish population involves half-century followup, creation of biobank

July 6, 2010 - A genetic study in the historic city of Aberdeen in Scottland aims to follow up on 50,000 Aberdonions born in the 1950s in a quest to understand and prevent familial cancers, heart disease, mental illness and diabetes.

The Medical Research Council surveyed all primary school children aged seven to 12 in Aberdeen back in 1962. Now, those originally surveyed are being sent letters with the hope of providing insight into a range of health conditions and how they may or may not be passed down through generations. The University of Aberdeen is building a database to aggregate and analyze the data.

In connection with the followup survey, the Scottish Family Health Study also will be creating a Scottish biobank of genetic, medical, family history and lifestyle information to help researchers investigate genetic and environmental factors to common diseases.

 

 

Law to regulate stem cell banking in India

June 27, 2010 - The Indian health ministry has prepared draft rules for umbilical cord blood banking and put them up for public consultation, in India's first move to regulate the growing business of stem cell banking.

Umbilical cord blood is an important source of stem cells, which have the ability to renew themselves and develop into a range of specialized cell types. Stem cell banks store blood and frozen tissue samples for research and surgery.

A number of domestic and foreign firms have entered stem cell banking in recent years. Stem cells could hold the key to as-yet undiscovered therapies for diseases that are currently incurable. The market size is estimated to be Rs100 crore, growing at 30-40% annually.

"Cord blood stem cell banking was allowed a few years ago. They currently fall under the rules of blood banks, but we needed guidelines separately for them," a health ministry official said.

See full story in Wall Street Journal and livemint.com.

 

Scarcity of certain specimens hampers FDA regulatory submissions

June 25, 2010 - Interesting story today about how the scarcity of certain specimens for studies presents a barrier to FDA regulatory submissions for the approval of new indications for currently approved diagnostic tests:

"Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) testing has been the standard of care for the diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) disease (HSV encephalitis and meningitis) for over a decade, yet an FDA approved test does not yet exist. HSV CNS infections are relatively rare and any individual laboratory may receive only 1-2 HSV encephalitis positive specimens a year. Manufacturers who developed assays for the novel 2009 influenza H1N1 strain encountered similar difficulties in validating their assays using prospective clinical specimens after the peak of the pandemic had passed," said the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) in public comments to he FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) Council meeting on Medical Device Innovation: Barriers to Market for Molecular Diagnostic Tests.

 

University of Miami devotes 80,000 square-feet to new tissue bank

June 23, 2010 - The University of Miami's Tissue Bank, which collects, processes and distributes donated human tissue, will occupy about 80,000 square feet within the new Life Science & Technology Park.  "We recover heart valves, skin for burn victims, bones for patient with tumors or bone loss from trauma," said tissue bank director, professor and Vice Chair of UM's medical school's orthopedic department Dr. Thomas Temple. "Our first obligation is to hospitals in South Florida, where our donors come from."

Source: Miami Today News