07/MRE08/2

North West Research Ethics Committee

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Portsmouth Molecular Pathology Tissue Bank

Portsmouth Molecular Pathology Tissue Bank

Professor Ian A Cree
Translational Oncology Research Centre
Queen Alexandra Hospital
Portsmouth PO6 3LY

02392 286378

ian.cree@porthosp.nhs.uk

This tissue bank is established at the Translational Oncology Research Centre (TORC), part of the Department of Pathology at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth as part of the NHS Collaborative Research Programme for Predictive Oncology, and will include the existing stocks for which patients have given consent.

All patients in studies run by the programme are asked to give their consent for use of surplus tissue which has either been taken and is stored in pathology archives, or is about to be taken at operation or biopsy. In addition, for some studies a further blood sample is taken or surplus serum/cells used for research. The bank will therefore include surplus material from the following sites:

- Diagnostic biopsy material from normal and tumour tissue.
- Surgical specimens, including normal and tumour tissue.
- Blood or other bodily fluids, including stored samples now surplus to diagnosis or treatment.

The NHS Collaborative Research Programme for Predictive Oncology includes one current Cancer Research UK funded study to examine micrometastases from ocular melanoma. This requires examination of tissue samples from the liver and lungs in patients post-mortem, whether they have died as a result of metastasis or not. The current findings are encouraging, and we therefore seek approval to hold tissue from similar studies which may result. We therefore wish to include the following tissues in the bank:

- Samples of normal or tumour tissue from organs (no whole organs will be stored) which may be affected by particular tumour types. This will include liver, lungs, and eye, but future studies may not be restricted to these sites.

TORC aims to bridge the gap between basic cancer research and clinical practice to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. It leads the NHS Collaborative Research Programme for Predictive Oncology. Our research commitments fall into three main areas:

1. Therapeutic guidance.
2. Molecular staging.
3. Improving treatment.

The current bank supports the following MREC/LREC approved studies:

1. Donation of Tissue or Cells for Cancer and Other Medical Research (MREC approved, laboratory study, incorporating the following approved projects):
a. Molecular basis of Cancer Chemosensitivity
b. Development of New Regimens
c. Dendritic cell function in melanoma
d. Predictive testing of the sensitivity of lung cancer to chemotherapy.

2. The biology of micrometastases in uveal melanoma (Laboratory project, MREC approved).

3. Nanodot Array Luminometric Immunoassays - NALIA (Technical development, LREC approved).

4. A randomised clinical trial of Thalidomide in cancer cachexia – Moulton Charitable Trust.

5. Improving tests for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer

Futher studies and clinical trials are likely to arise at any time, and we will contribute material to other LREC or MREC approved studies by partner organisations provided that these contribute to the aims of the Programme.

TORC and the The NHS Collaborative Research Programme for Predictive Oncology conduct multidisciplinary, multiprofessional and translational cancer research in three main areas. These are:

1. Therapeutic Guidance
2. Molecular Staging
3. Improving Treatment

These are intended to lead to improvements in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.

Favourable Opinion

not yet received