The Translational Pathology Core provides normal and tumor tissue specimens necessary for the laboratory-based, epidemiologic and clinical studies being conducted by USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (KiCCC) investigators. As cancer research increasingly utilizes human tumor specimens, the need for this service has escalated accordingly. It is now indispensable for many NCCC investigators. Tissue specimens have been provided to 24 NCCC members with active peer-reviewed research funding. The Core is organized into three arms, each with distinct but related functions; the Adult Tissue Arm (ATA) supervised by Dr. Andrew Sherrod, supplies fresh/frozen adult normal and tumor tissue and fluid specimens, the Pediatric Tissue Arm (PTA) supervised by Dr. Hiroyuki Shimada, provides pediatric tumor tissue specimens, and the Population Based Tissue Arm (PBTA) supervised by Dr. Wendy Cozen, provides population-based, fixed tissue specimens primarily for epidemiologic studies. Overall, coordination of these services is under the direction of Dr. Sue Ellen Martin. By using this Core, NCCC investigators were able to identify molecular markers associated with tumor recurrence in 250 patients with stage 2 and 3 colon cancer and 103 stage 1-3 gastric cancer, collaborated with the Broad Institute on the 8q24 pathway getting 100 fresh tissues leading to a Nature Genetics publication, publish a molecular classification of childhood rhabdomyosarcoma based on genotypic and phenotypic determinants that distinguish two major prognostic groups, and identified an ethnic-specific tumor marker for prostate cancer.
Normal and diseased tissues which are fresh/frozen or obtained from paraffin blocks are indispensible for translational cancer research. This Core with these arms provides fresh/frozen tissue from pediatric and adult subjects. It also has a unique ability to provide population-based fixed specimens for epidemiological studies.
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