Tissue and Outcomes Core
Co-Directors - Britt-Marie E. Ljung, MD | Fred Waldman, MD, PhD
Clinical Co-Director - Karla Kerlikowske, MD
Key Personnel - Shanaz Dairkee, PhD
Overview
The Tissue and Outcomes Core is responsible for identifying women diagnosed with breast cancer at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF, including San Francisco General Hospital - SFGH) and the California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), collecting fresh tissue (at CPMC) and paraffin blocks (at all sites), collecting and entering clinical, epidemiologic, pathology and follow-up information into a database (for all sites), and distributing breast tissue with associated clinical information to SPORE investigators.
Tissue is collected prospectively at the time of surgery and banked as fresh-frozen cassettes or formalin-fixed blocks. Fresh tissue for culture is also collected. The Core also identifies archival formalin blocks for studies and coordinates with other tumor banks to obtain additional material for investigators. All tissue is reviewed by Core pathologists for histopathologic features and to confirm the presence of tumor. Requests for tissue and clinical data are approved by a Tissue & Data Utilization Committee, which reviews requests for project feasibility and priorities. The Core extracts DNA and RNA for studies and coordinates preparation of tissue microarray blocks. In addition to collecting baseline data on women with newly diagnosed breast cancer, the Core obtains informed consent for tissue use and follow-up information to determine disease status on all women in the database by mailing women a survey every 18 months.
Annual linkage is done with the Northern California Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program to determine vital status and disease specific mortality. Baseline and follow-up information from 2,301 women with breast cancer (1,819 invasive and 482 DCIS cases) diagnosed at UCSF or CPMC with a median follow-up time of five years are currently in a relational database.
The overall goal for the next five years is to maintain and expand the database (by including patients at SFGH and additional outside sites) so that it can continue to serve as a resource to conduct high quality, clinically significant translational research and to acquire breast cancer outcomes for study populations.
Resources & Services
The SPORE Tissue and Outcomes Core is available for working with individual researchers within the SPORE (or more generally within the San Francisco Bay Area breast cancer research community) and provides support for experiment and tissue array design, histology review, interpretation of sections for microdissection (on the cryostat or by LCM), etc. Core personnel act as liaison between the SPORE projects and the Cancer Center Tissue and Immunohistochemistry Cores to assure that SPORE needs are met with quality and a timely response.
Epidemiologic, clinical, and outcome information has been collected for women diagnosed with breast cancer at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC). Records of 2,301 women diagnosed with breast cancer at CPMC or UCSF between January 1986 and December 2000 and their risk factor and initial breast cancer treatment information have been entered into the Breast Oncology Program database. Tissue available for research according to disease status is shown here.
Facilities
The Core has laboratories in both the Mt. Zion Cancer Research Center and in the Mt. Zion Hospital Laboratory. In addition, laboratories are available for tissue processing at California Pacific Medical Center and at Moffitt-Long Hospitals and Clinics.
Major equipment for the Core includes a cryostat, single and dual-head microscopes, a laser capture microscope (Arcturus), and a tissue microarrayer (Beecher Instruments). A multiple-slide stainer (Biogenix) is being purchased through institutional resources for shared use among the SPORE and other tissue-based resources. Computers are available for the PI and co-PIs, manager, and staff. Biological safety hoods are available and used routinely for tissue processing.
Tissue Distribution Protocol
All requests for tissue are reviewed by the Tissue Utilization Committee for feasibility, appropriate use of tissue, and priority. To request tissue, fill out the Tissue Request Form and send it to Dr. Fred Waldman, chair of the Tissue Utilization Committee.
Priority of tissue use is as follows:
- Breast Oncology Program Members
- Other UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Members
- Other UCSF investigators
- Non-UCSF academic investigators
- Private, non-academic companies
Tissue distribution to private companies requires an approved Material Transfer Agreement. Investigators outside UCSF are strongly encouraged to collaborate with a member of the UCSF Breast Oncology Program. IRB approval is required for all tissue use.
Requests for limited (5 cases or less) anonymous tissue to be used for protocol development may be approved administratively.
Investigators using SPORE tissue are expected to submit a timely report on tissue use and quality. All publications resulting from tissue use must acknowledge the Breast Cancer SPORE Tissue Core. In addition, we also request that researchers consider sharing of authorship with appropriate Core individuals, and (according to emerging NIH guidelines) we expect that data will be made available to the community after a project is finished.
A centralized database on tissue collected for all Cancer Center tissue banks is located here.
Tissue available for research
Tissue Request Form (Word)
Tissue Request Form (PDF)
