Pathology and Biorepository Shared Service

19.0 Abstract: Pathology Biorepository Shared Service The Pathology Biorepository Shared Service (PBSS) provides access to high-quality banked patient samples while maintaining patient confidentiality for studies aimed at understanding the biology cancer with an ultimate goal of translating this knowledge into diagnostic and clinical applications. PBSS provides pathology, histology, and histotechnology services to assist with procurement, analyses, and clinicopathology of human tissues. PBSS has long-standing expertise gained from a well-established relationship with NCI and from access to existing expertise and archives. PBSS provides tissue bank services for surgical specimens. Frozen tissue archives contain over 13,000 aliquots of diseased and benign tissue, including 9,500 aliquots of matched same-patient tumor and normal tissue and more than 25,000 frozen peripheral blood and bone marrow mononuclear isolates/plasma samples. PBSS provides customized tissue collection, and access to over 1,870,000 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from pathologic diagnoses obtained at the University of Maryland Medical Center. A database contains demographic, epidemiologic, pathologic, and follow-up patient information. PBSS provides unique value-added services based on cooperation with the UMSOM Anatomic Pathology Department, including diagnostic pathology, biobanking, sophisticated histotechnology, and digital image analysis. Ioffe (HRC) and Staats (HRC) direct the PBSS. PBSS experts provide consultation regarding study design, optimal use of human tissue samples, IRB and HIPAA compliance, and data interpretation. PBSS interacts with other shared services to provide high-quality specimens necessary for RNA/DNA extraction, in vivo xenograft preparation, proteomic studies, and clinicopathologic dataset acquisition. A Faculty Oversight Committee composed of PBSS users provides guidance on current services and strategic planning. UMGCCC program members receive priority access to biobanking, tumor tissue examination, protocol development and research support. PBSS provides efficient turnaround times and prioritizes funded UMGCCC members. PBSS services are highly competitive with other academic and commercial sources, and a 25% UMGCCC-funded subsidy is provided to Cancer Center members. In 2019, PBSS supported studies by 70 investigators, 42 (60%) of whom are UMGCCC members. In 2019, PBSS supported $21.8 million of total funding. $15.5 million of this funding was cancer-related and peer reviewed. PBSS supported 158 cancer-related publications from 2015 to 2019, including publications in high-impact journals including as J Clin Oncol, JAMA Oncology, Blood, and J Natl Cancer Inst, and Cancer Immunology.