There are numerous cancer investigators at research institutions throughout the country who either wish to perform or are involved in laboratory investigations with human tumors and/or other human tissues. During the past several years we have developed a pilot program which facilitates efforts of investigators throughout the United States in obtaining such tissues. Based on our experience with this unfunded pilot program, we believe that there is a critical and unfilled need for human tissues in cancer research. If we are selected to serve as a division of the Human Tissue Network, we will observe extensive precautions to be certain that there are no physical, psychological, social, legal or other threats to the welfare of the patient. We believe that our program will increase the quality, efficiency, and safety of methods previously used in obtaining human tissues. From the UAB associated hospitals and two local community hospitals, we will obtain tissues from routine diagnostic or therapeutic surgical procedures and from autopsies. We will provide these specimens to investigators rapidly and as histologically well characterized specimens. In and effort to make this service as economical as possible we will store specific types of tumors or normal tissues in vapor-phase liquid nitrogen freezers; we then will ship to investigators in lots packed in dry ice. Frozen tissues will be provided for research including DNA-RNA determinations, biochemical analysis, and for other studies of labile substances. Similarly, sterile minced tissues in media of choice will be shipped fresh. These tissues can be used successfully for establishing cell cultures and for organ cultures. In addition, our histology laboratory will be equipped to supply tissue blocks, fixed tissues, or unstained histological slides to investigators. These products can be used for screening monoclonal antibodies and for other histopathological studies. Ou pilot program has facilitated a large volume of cancer research conducted with human tissues. Our supply of human tissues to investigators has continually increased and we feel that this service continues to encourage investigators to concentrate on research projects involving human cancers. To date, approximately 250 papers and presentations have reported research results using tissue obtained from this pilot program. The success of our unfunded pilot program has encouraged us to apply for this NCI contract. If chosen, we will provide the NCI Human Tissue Network with a proven record of SUCCESS and COMMITMENT in supplying human tissues to cancer researchers throughout the United States.
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