Biospecimens and Pathology Core
The Biospecimens and Pathology Core provides investigators with biospecimens, pathology annotations, histological services and pathology support for SPORE research projects and other breast cancer translational research projects.
Biospecimens include:
- Frozen tissue.
- Archived formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue.
- Tissue microarrays, cell line microarrays and cryopreserved tissue.
- Blood.
- Plasma.
- Serum.
- DNA.
- RNA.
The core is supported by the Biospecimen Accessioning and Processing Core for processing blood to genomic DNA, serum and plasma aliquots. It's also supported by the Pathology Research Core for histology-related services. This includes paraffin and frozen sectioning, immunohistochemistry, antibody optimization and characterization, tissue microarray construction, and digital imaging.
The Biospecimens and Pathology Core:
- Obtains patient informed consent for blood and tissue specimens.
- Abstracts patient clinical data into a secure database, including demographics, tumor stages, treatments and clinical outcomes.
- Provides clinically annotated tissue specimens for clinical and translational research within the Breast Cancer SPORE.
The core pathologist provides immunohistochemistry interpretations. These functions are essential to most translational research, including the specific projects included in the Breast Cancer SPORE.
Core leaders