Core B: Biospecimens

ABSTRACT: Core B: Biospecimens. The UI/MC SPORE Biospecimens Shared Resource provides a coordinated, centralized, and dedicated core for the procurement, processing and annotation of biospecimens from patients with lymphoma. The goal of the Biospecimens Core is to procure a variety of biologic specimens on all patients involved in UI/MC SPORE clinical trials and all newly diagnosed lymphoma patients seen at the UI Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center (HCCC) and the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center (MCCC) and enrolled into the Molecular Epidemiology Resource (MER). The specific aims of the Core are: Aim 1) To provide accurate classification of all lymphomas (including chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma) from patients enrolled onto SPORE clinical trials and the MER; Aim 2) To collect, process, bank and distribute biologic specimens from Iowa and Mayo lymphoma patients for translational research; Aim 3) To track all biospecimens and ensure linkage to clinical, outcome and related data; and Aim 4) To provide expertise, collaborative support and service for full Projects and Career Enhancement/Developmental Research Awardee research. Specimens are collected and processed under rigorous quality control and distributed to researchers or banked for future SPORE projects. Activities are tracked using a sophisticated database that merges activities at Iowa and Mayo and allows integration with clinical and other data collected in research projects. The Core provides specialized expertise in working with lymphoma biospecimens and is closely aligned with institutional research cores and shared resources, but does not duplicate them. The Core has been highly productive in the last funding cycle and since its inception in 2002. To date, the Core has supported the pathology review and specimen collection from patients on all SPORE clinical trials; 7065 patients enrolled into the MER, and 1237 patients from those outside of the MER eligibility criteria (e.g., relapsed or transformed cases). The entire collection consists of 7958 germline DNA and 5733 serum samples; assembled tissue microarrays in 1790 patients; and banked frozen cells on 1284 patients. New in this funding period, we developed a process to collect stool for gut microbiome analysis, and have collected samples from 153 patients and 47 matched household controls. Also new to the Core is time-of-flight mass cytometry (CyTOF), which allows simultaneous evaluation of >35 proteins on a single-cell level. In planning the next grant cycle, we have worked with all 4 new Projects to ensure that we can meet their biospecimen needs. In addition, the Core will work with young investigators in the Career Enhancement Program on the research design of their proposals so that the appropriate samples can be provided. Lastly, we will provide biospecimens expertise and biobank resources for innovative Developmental Research Proposals. These goals will be met by judicious use of our current Biobank and continued accrual of new patient samples to the bank (MER) and facilitating the collection of trial related samples for Project work.