2009 Biospecimen Research Network Symposium: Advancing Cancer Research through Biospecimen Science

Abstract

This report details the proceedings of the 2009 Biospecimen Research Network (BRN) Symposium that took place on March 16 to 18, 2009, the second in a series of annual symposia sponsored by the National Cancer Institute Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research. The BRN Symposium is a public forum addressing the relevance of biospecimen quality to progress in cancer research and the systematic investigation needed to understand how different methods of collection, processing, and storage of human biospecimens affect subsequent molecular research results. More than 300 participants from industry, academia, and government attended the symposium, which featured both formal presentations and a day of workshops aimed at addressing several key issues in biospecimen science. An additional 100 individuals participated via a live webcast (archived at http://brnsymposium.com). The BRN Symposium is part of a larger program designed as a networked, multidisciplinary research approach to increase the knowledge base for biospecimen science. Biospecimens are generally understood to represent an accurate representation of a patient's disease biology, but can instead reflect a combination of disease biology and the biospecimen's response to a wide range of biological stresses. The molecular signatures of disease can thus be confounded by the signatures of biospecimen biological stress, with the potential to affect clinical and research outcomes through incorrect diagnosis of disease, improper use of a given therapy, and irreproducible research results that can lead to misinterpretation of artifacts as biomarkers. Biospecimen research represents the kind of bricks-and-mortar research that provides a solid scientific foundation for future advances that will directly help patients.

Disparities in knowledge and willingness to donate research biospecimens: a mixed-methods study in an underserved urban community

“…It is well established that the study of high-quality biospecimens is vital to the advancement of cancer research and to the mission of personalized medicine (Vaught et al 2011;Hewitt 2011;Waltz 2007;Moore et al 2009). Moore et al (2009) suggest that biospecimen research represents the kind of bricks-andmortar investigation that provides a solid scientific foundation for future advances that will directly help patients.…”

Standard Preanalytical Coding for Biospecimens: Defining the Sample PREanalytical Code

“…The effect of preanalytical procedures on the biomolecular information extracted from specimens stored in research Biobanks is well recognized (1) and "biospecimen research" has emerged to clarify further the cellular and molecular alterations attributed to preanalytical processes (2). These are defined as those procedures that take place between specimen collection and experimental analysis.…”

Scientific scope of integrating research activities in the Janus Serum Bank and Cancer Registry of Norway

“…Advancing cancer research through biospecimen science requires a high focus on quality (1,2). When introducing molecular epidemiology in the 1980s, the expectation was that it would help overcome some major limitations of epidemiology and facilitate cancer prevention.…”