Core 3: Pathology & Biospecimens Core

Access to relevant biospecimens is critical to translational research on catchment area populations. The lack of research specimens from different populations in the U.S. remains an obstacle to understanding population differences in cancer development, progression, and outcomes. In particular, the paucity of clinical biospecimens from our catchment area populations, including Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders, and Asian Americans has limited the ability to address critical differences in cancer risk and outcomes affecting these U.S. population groups. Hawaiʻi has experienced a higher burden of common cancers-- including liver, breast, lung, colorectum, endometrium, and stomach, compared to states in the U.S overall. Moreover, wide differences are observed among Hawaiʻi's populations including Native Hawaiians who have the highest mortality for breast, liver, lung, and other common malignancies. The value of the biospecimens collected at the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center (UHCC) is evident in the breadth and scope of its translational research. Despite this progress, biorepository efforts at the UHCC to date have been fragmented and limited for certain types of specimens, especially fresh frozen tumor tissue. Current UHCC biospecimen resources include a statewide repository of clinically-annotated, de-identified archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue and prospectively and retrospectively collected blood, urine, oral rinses, and stool from consented individuals. In contrast, the collection of fresh frozen tissue has been largely limited to small scale collections for investigator-initiated studies. There is a crucial need at UHCC to standardize and centralize the collection of fresh frozen tumor and blood from cancer patients in our participating catchment area hospitals and to integrate these collections with existing resources in order to optimize their utility for cancer research. We propose to develop a Pathology and Biospecimen Core that will integrate and augment existing and new biospecimen resources with respect to their acquisition, processing, tracking, storage, and distribution and will support Project 2 (lung cancer), Project 3 (breast cancer), Career Enhancement Program (CEP) and Developmental Research Program (DRP) projects, as well as other UHCC investigations with the goal of developing a robust infrastructure to address differences in cancer risk and outcomes in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations. Aim 1 will focus on the development of a repository of paired fresh frozen tumor tissue and blood specimens from cancer cases diagnosed in the state of Hawaiʻi with cancers of the lung, liver, breast, colorectum, endometrium, pancreas, and stomach. Potential cases will be identified via rapid reporting from medical facilities statewide through the NCI SEER Hawaiʻi Tumor Registry. For Aim 2, we will provide biospecimens from new and existing resources in support of Projects 2, and 3, CEP and DRP projects, and future cancer research projects.