The Tissue and Outcomes Core is responsible for identifying women diagnosed with breast cancer at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF, including San Francisco General Hospital - SFGH) and the California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), collecting fresh tissue (at UCSF and SFGH) and paraffin blocks (at all sites), collecting and entering clinical, epidemiologic, pathology and follow-up information into a database (for all sites), and distributing breast tissue with associated clinical information to SPORE investigators. Tissue is collected prospectively at the time of surgery and banked as fresh-frozen cassettes or formalin-fixed blocks. Fresh tissue for culture is also collected. The Core also identifies archival formalin blocks for studies and coordinates with other tumor banks to obtain additional material for investigators. Tissues are reviewed by Core pathologists as needed for histopathologic features and to confirm the presence and percentage of tumor cells. Requests for tissue and clinical data are approved by a Tissue & Data Utilization Committee, which reviews requests for project feasibility and priorities. The Core extracts DMA and RNA for studies and coordinates preparation of tissue microarray blocks. In addition to baseline data collected on women with newly diagnosed breast cancer, the Core obtains informed consent for tissue use and follow-up information to determine disease status on all women in the database by mailing women a survey every 18-months. Annual linkage is done with the Northern California Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program to determine vital status and disease specific mortality. Baseline and follow-up information from 4,239 women with breast cancer (3,240 invasive and 902 DCIS cases) diagnosed at UCSF, CPMC, or SFGH with a median follow-up time of six years are currently in a relational database. The overall goal for the next five years is to maintain and expand the tissue bank and database so that it can continue to serve as a resource to conduct high quality, clinically significant translational research and to acquire breast cancer outcomes for study populations.
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