The goal of the Resource for Tumor Tissue and Data is to foster the use of human tissue in cancer research, thus, facilitating the application of findings in the laboratory to cancer prevention, early detection, prognosis and treatment. The Resource was established in 1975 by Dr. Rita Demopoulos and has grown steadily. It has been solely funded by this NIH Grant. Our greatest challenge has been to develop the versatility to respond the changing needs of its investigators. Some of the services provided by the Resource include: 1) Tissue procurement (delivered fresh in nutrient media or freshly frozen in liquid nitrogen); 2) Selection by Dr. Rita Demopoulos of appropriate paraffin embedded tumor and control tissues for retrospective immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization, and various molecular biological studies. 3) Provision of demographic data as well as detailed clinical information needed for correlation of research findings with clinical parameters; 4) Rapid identification of newly diagnosed patients for accrual to randomized therapeutic clinical trials; and 5) Rapid identification of newly diagnosed patients for epidemiology studies and for registration of Bellevue breast cancer patients into the Comprehensive Breast Center computerized data base. The number of investigators per year using this resource peaked at 55 for the period ending 6/30/97. 637 fresh tissues nd 772 paraffin blocks were provided during the period (7/1/96-6/30/97) which peaked at 1409 specimens. Eighty-eight percent of our users have peer reviewed grants and are also Cancer Center members.
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