The SPORE Tissue Procurement and Analysis Facility (TPA) provides centralized, quality controlled, quality assured procurement, processing, analysis, storage and distribution of normal and malignant breast tissue from UNC Hospitals. Whenever possible, corresponding serum and plasma are also obtained. All procured specimens are reviewed by the Facility Pathologist to ensure that representative tissue is banked and distributed. Our tissue procurement activities have expanded to include Rex Hospital, a large Hospital in Raleigh, N.C., new to the UNC Health Care System, dramatically increasing our access to breast specimens. The TPA facility procures and distributes human specimens from patients who have consented to having their specimens used in basic, translational, population and clinical cancer research. The facility also provides analysis services, including tissue sectioning for frozen and paraffin embedded specimens, preparation of tissue microarrays (TMAs), immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ assays, technology development and access to state-of-the-art tissue-based technology, including automated equipment and laser-capture microdissection. Expert personnel provide consultation and training to faculty and staff in these applications. The facility also serves as a central clearing house for the Carolina Breast Cancer Study - banking anddistributing unstained sections for multiple assays andcentralized repository for the InterSPORE ISPY trial (Intergroup Neoadjuvant study: SPORE/CALGB/ ACRIN). Customized databases serve to monitor and survey all specimens and associated data, providing a coordinated system of quality control, sample tracking and distribution of specimens to appropriate investigators. The TPA has implemented policies and procedures to support these services and address technical, medical and legal issues, as well as protection of patient privacy and confidentiality. These policies developed in collaboration with pathology, surgery, the clinical protocol office and integrated with clinical and basic research policies allow a uniform, streamlined coordinated process of tissue procurement, handling, process, triage and analysis. The facility meets with each investigator to customize needs. The productivity and services provided by the TPA continues, as evidenced by numerous publications from user investigators and continued support of each of the SPORE projects and developmental studies.
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