3.02 - Considerations on Dealing with Tissues and Cell Samples (Include Tissue Banking)

Abstract

Human biospecimen collection under highly defined conditions is a prerequisite for biomarker discovery and validation. “Defined condition” varies substantially with the ultimate applications, i.e., downstream analytical end points. This review aims to define key variables in the banking of solid tumors, with an emphasis on the banking of breast and ovarian tumors. The variables contributing to the quality (assessed as integrity of RNA) of banked specimens include time of devitalization of tissue, number of years of storage under liquid nitrogen vapor phase, and stability of isolated RNA in ethanol for extended time periods. Conditions for storage of blood or lymphocyte cells in the context of polymorphism-based assays and genotyping platform are discussed. Population heterogeneity is an important variable often ignored in biomarker studies and remedial measures are described to address population stratification in biomarker discovery and validation. The role of biobanks is evolving and standard operating procedures need further refinements to address longitudinal studies in clinical and molecular epidemiological areas. Defining the end-user groups as well as developing and implementing effective operating procedures along with quality-control measures are critical for the success of biobanks.