The overarching goal of the Tissue and Pathology Core (TPC) is to facilitate translational research involving the acquisition or use of biological samples within the SPORE. To accomplish this goal, the Core will offer a range of services for SPORE investigators. These include: 1) Providing a tissue and blood repository;2) Collecting, storing, processing, and analyzing tissue and blood from participants on SPORE clinical trials;and 3) Providing a variety of readily accessible pathology and technical services, integrated with clinical information. In addition to standard pathology techniques, the TPC will offer several state-of-the- art technologies including circulating tumor cell capture and analysis. Lastly, the TPC will centralize and prioritize access of biological samples to investigators collected in the SPORE. A key strength of the TPC is the ability to bank frozen tumor tissue. The Core has a pre-existing collection of over 2,600 frozen breast cancer specimens acquired during the previous SPORE and this resource will continue to be expanded. The Core also will maintain a blood sample repository that will build upon the current collection of samples from 10,000 patients with breast cancer and from 2,400 individuals at high risk of developing breast cancer. In order to optimize the utility of the specimen collections for translational research, the samples in the repository are linked to clinical data through caTissue. The TPC will work closely with the Clinical Trials Core to procure research biopsies and other tissues from participants on SPORE clinical trials. The TPC will use caTissue to catalogue these specimens as well. Importantly, the Core will be directly involved in the analysis of these specimens, and will interact extensively with the four projects. To ensure that project-related tissue based research is seamless;a specific team pathologist from the TPC has been identified as a collaborator for each project. In addition to working with SPORE investigators, the Core will work with investigators throughout the DF/HCC, with other Breast Cancer SPORE programs, and with researchers at centers around the world. The TPC facilitates clinical research involving the acquisition or use of biological samples within the SPORE. Three of the four projects have proposed clinical trials that include research biopsies (Projects 2, 3, 4). The TPC will oversee the collection, storage, quality assessment, and processing of these biopsies. During the course of the SPORE, we anticipate supporting other investigators who will conduct tissue-intensive trials either as part of the projects or through a career development program award or developmental project.
The Tissue and Pathology Core facilitates translational research involving the acquisition or use of biological samples. The collection of tissue and blood from healthy and diseased women is vital to translational research. Having the TPC resource will advance our ability to prevent, diagnose and treat breast cancer. The Core will enable the SPORE toward translational discoveries in the near-term, and a new wave of scientific challenges.
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