The cooperative human tissue network. An update

Abstract

Background. During the past decade, the National Cancer Institute became aware of a lack of availability of human tissues for research, especially in the fields of molecular biology, genetics, and immunology. Methods. In 1987, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) established the Cooperative Human Tissue Network (CHTN) by funding three institutions that had extensive experience in the procurement and distribution of tissues for research. Results. Since its inception, the CHTN has been expanded to five member institutions, with the addition of the Columbus Children's Hospital (the Pediatric Division for the procurement of pediatric tissues) and Case Western Reserve University. Each of the five divisions have established regional networks of institutions that supply tissues to the major divisions. From 1987 through 1991, the CHTN has distributed more than 29,000 human tissue samples and supplied approximately 500 researchers throughout the country. Conclusions. This report describes the development and current status of the CHTN, a valuable resource to the research community.

Establishment of a cervical cancer bio-bank for the Chinese population: from project-based sample collection to routine management

“…The preserved specimens were stored in RNA later and preserved in a -152°C deep freezer, while the frozen tissue specimens were stored directly in the -152°C deep freezer. The paraffin-embedded specimens and the corresponding H&E stained glass slides, unstained glass slides or thick slices can be obtained from the bio-bank [7][8][9].…”

Review Paper: Human Tissues for Discovery Biomarker Pharmaceutical Research: The Experience of the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center—Lilly Research Labs Tissue/Fluid BioBank

“…The decision to provide human tissue should be based on the specific and general interests of the patient and of society. 1,4,8,10,14,16,17,19,20 Tissue banking requirements of patient confidentiality, informed consent, and local institutional review board (IRB) review find their beginnings in the Holocaust, which led to the creation of the Nuremberg Code and the Declaration of Helsinki. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's (HIPAA) final modifications to the Privacy Rules went into effect in April 2003, and they have added to the statutory and regulatory requirements in the United States.…”

“…25,31 Motivating tissue use Once tissue collection starts, the pharmaceutical company needs to find ways to motivate tissue use so that the organization incorporates pharmacogenomics data and tissue tools appropriately and in a way that offers the greatest potential for developing new patient therapies. 4,16,21 Peer education, which is critical to initial acceptance, depends on recruiting early adopters to present to staff meetings on how to use specimens in actual experimental situations, by emphasizing the results obtained and ways that tissue use afforded them results difficult or impossible to obtain in more conventional experimentation. It is important at this stage to stress that tissue procurement and handling follow rigorous regulatory practices and that using tissue is both reasonably streamlined and productive.…”

The efficient operation of the surgical pathology gross room

“…To support future developments in clinical medicine it is critical that human tissues be available to support biomedical research (LiVolsi et al 1993;Grizzle et al 1996;Grizzle et al 1998;Grizzle and Sexton 1999;Qualman et al 2004). Such tissues usually are obtained from the gross room.…”