Sample Processing and Banking

Abstract Core 1 This core’s mission is to facilitate translational and laboratory-based research performed by all program investigators. The core supports 4 functions: 1) processing and cryopreservation of primary AML and MDS samples; 2) annotation of primary samples with pathologic, cytogenetic and flow cytometry data; 3) maintain a computerized inventory of annotated clinical samples that protects patient privacy; and 4) provide primary leukemia samples appropriate for specific laboratory investigations performed by project investigators. As of August 2024, 16,368 bone marrow samples have been banked from 5,130 unique patients with hematologic malignancies. All of these samples were obtained from patients enrolled on IRB-approved sample collection protocol DF/HCC 01-206: Blood and Bone Marrow Sample Collection for Research Studies in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies, Bone Marrow Disorders, and Normal Donors. The current inventory of the tissue bank includes bone marrow samples from 2719 patients with AML and 1394 patients with MDS. Primary samples from the bank have been extensively used to support clinical and laboratory research over the last five years including support for drug development, mechanisms of leukemia transformation, mechanisms of resistance to therapy, implementation of BH3 profiling, creation of a large bank of genomically defined PDX models of AML, and other laboratory studies.