Core B: Biospecimen and Pathology

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Specimen Core provides part of the infrastructure support for the major projects comprising the PNW Prostate Cancer SPORE as well as for future pilot and developmental projects. It has been designed to meet the needs of these projects and serve as a stand-alone resource for collaborative efforts with other SPOREs. This Core will provide a well-organized and standardized system of specimen collection, storage, distribution, and related clinical/research information dissemination that is based on over two decades of experience. There will be consistency and quality assurance in the pathological analysis of tissue specimens. This Core has 5 components: 1. Clinical specimen acquisition (i.e. tissues, including those from surgery and the rapid autopsy program, serum, plasma, and urine), processing, quality control, storage, distribution, and database entry; 2. A development program to continually improve the quality and efficiency of biospecimen acquisition, processing, and storage to increase the fidelity of specimens provided to the SPORE investigators; 3. Maintain prostate cancer xenograft lines established by the Core and make specimens available for biological study and/or perform pre-clinical studies for SPORE investigators and collaborators; 4. Laboratory services, including production of tissue microarrays, interpretation of immunohistology by urologic pathologists, and production of specimen derivatives for research; 5. An administrative program to obtain samples from minorities, prioritize the distribution of specimens, ensure patient confidentiality and compliance with IRB requirements, continually improve quality control measures, and interact with other SPOREs.