Significant therapeutic inroads have been made in pediatric and gynecologic cancers, but much remains to be discerned about the biology of these malignancies to be applied to their detection, diagnosis and treatment. The goal of the CHTN Pediatric/Gynecologic Division is to provide high quality research tissue specimens to support biomedical research involving pediatric and gynecologic malignancies. Historically, the Division's efforts have centered around pediatric and ovarian cancer with efforts now made to expand to include other important gynecologic (cervical, endometrial) cancers utilizing both snap-frozen and paraffin- embedded tissues. The Division has also expanded its reliance on focused cancer procurement through cooperative groups to include not only the Childrens Cancer Group and gynecologic Oncology Group, but also the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study and National Wilms' Tumor Study. A focused effort to identify and track 'liquid tumors' or the pediatric leukemias to make them widely available to investigators is also planned. Furthermore with the emphasis on molecular genetic research in pediatric/gynecologic cancer, procurement of associated host normal somatic tissues, metastatic tumor, blood and sera as well as familial blood for comparative nucleic acid studies is emphasized. These purposes are achieved through the usage of a dual chambered (ambient and deep frozen) Kit which is used in all studies. The Kit is recyclable and has been successfully piloted in 1994. Success of this CHTN Division has been measured by the publication of more than 70 manuscripts in various well-regarded clinical or basic research journals over the last grant cycle. Although uniquely positioned to procure pediatric and gynecologic malignancies for research purposes on a national basis, the CHTN Pediatric/Gynecologic Division effectively integrates with its adult counterparts in the CHTN in yearly operational planning, cross-referencing of investigator needs, a common computer network and in the common goal of procuring high quality tissues for scientifically sound biomedical research.
