The Tissue Acquisition, Pathology, and Clinical Data (TAPCD) Core has several purposes, the first and foremost of which is to maintain a tissue, blood, and urine repository for the various investigators participating in this SPORE. This task involves the collection, freezing and storage of kidney cancer and paired normal kidney tissues as well as blood and urine from consenting RCC patients. As of July 2008, frozen tissue is available on 643 patients. In addition, 1088 patients have at least one blood sample and 741 patients have at least one urine sample stored in the specimen repository. The TAPCD Core is also responsible for the maintenance of a clinical database on all consenting kidney cancer patients. This database as well as the specimen tracking and secured data management systems provide an informatics link throughout the participating DF/HCC hospitals which allow for the sharing of clinical outcome data among SPORE investigators. The TAPCD Core also provides state-of-the-art histology and molecular pathology services to SPORE Investigators. These services include: routine histology, histopathological evaluation, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, computer-assisted image analysis, and generation and interrogation of tissue microarrays. In addition, this Core performs tissue microdissection, and DNA and RNA preparation for molecular studies. Finally, the TAPCD Core is responsible for performing mutation and methylation analysis of the VHL gene in clear cell RCC specimens stored in the SPORE tissue bank. Finally, the TAPCD Core collaborates with the Biostatistics Core in data analysis and auditing. This arrangement facilitates the analysis of clinical data from kidney cancer patients consented to our protocols and the correlation of clinical data with results from the various laboratory assays being carried out as part of individual SPORE Projects.
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