The projects of this SPORE will use human sarcoma specimens for translational research directed toward improving the treatment of human sarcomas. The Sarcoma Pathology and Tissue Procurement Core will provide SPORE investigators with high-quality tissue samples from pafients treated at SPORE and Sarcoma Alliance for Research and Collaboration (SARC) associated institutions. Standardized and centralized procedures have been established for fissue procurement, quality control, and processing, storage, and distribufion of samples to individual investigators and will ensure opfimal use of the samples according to the guidelines established by the Specimen Committee. Funcfions of SarCore will include specimen procurement from participating SARC insfitufions, processing, storage, histopathologic review, tesfing, and management of pathological databases as well as distribution of well-characterized specimens to project invesfigators. The Biopathology Center (BCP) at Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus, OH) will faciliate processing of prospective clinical samples with Dr. Nilsa Ramirez as a local consultant there supported by this grant. The electronic database is integrated with the Biostafisfics and Clinical Trials Cores and contains both pathological and clinical records of all samples, both stored and distributed to individual invesfigators, and includes the results of individual SPORE projects to facilitate the efficient response of SarCore to the needs of invesfigators in this SPORE and at collaborating institufions. These resources will also be available for future use under the NCI CaBIG? protocol. Two pathologists (Drs. Czerniak and Lazar) with expertise in sarcoma pathology, biology and in all aspects of Core operafions, including histopathologic evaluation, experimentafion and quality control, will co-direct the facility. They will be supported by Drs. Matt van de Rijn (Stanford) and Christopher Fletcher (Harvard), all with extensive experience in sarcoma pathology and translafional research. Dr. van de Rijn is expert in high-throughput analysis sarcoma biomarkers and sarcoma pathobiology while Dr. Fletcher's clinical diagnostic opinions are widely regarded as definitive In this complex arena. This centralized comprehensive facility will provide experimental support and close collaborafion forthe mulfidisciplinary and translational research projects oufiined in this SPORE proposal. All five pathologists in this core has extensive experience in this regard. Such support is necessary in this rare family of understudied orphan malignancies where only mulfi-institufional cooperafion can facilitate the acquisifion of human tumor tissue resources vital to make progress in this understudied disease.
Sarcomas are a diverse group of more than 100 rare tumors amounfing in aggregate to approximately 1% of all malignancies. Nonetheless, study of sarcomas has contributed disproportionately to understanding the biology and treatment of all cancers. Their rare nature makes multi-institufional collaboration absolutely necessary to gain tracfion in the ultimate goal of alleviafing the suffering of sarcoma patients.
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