Introduction

Harvey Pass, MD, the Division Chief for Thoracic Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, is the director of the Thoracic Oncology Bank. The bank, located within the 1,200-square-foot Thoracic Oncology Laboratory at Bellevue, began accruing specimens in July 2006. The Thoracic Oncology Program collects plasma, serum, matching tumor and normal specimens, and peripheral blood monocytes on all patients having thoracic operations at Tisch and Bellevue Hospitals, under the auspices of an ongoing tissue procurement protocol approved by the NYU IRB.

All tissue specimens are snap frozen in liquid nitrogen immediately upon harvest in the operating room, and paraffin blocks for these tissues are held in the NYU Pathology Department. Specimens are delivered to the laboratory by a tissue procurement research nurse, who, along with the other clinical trial investigators, receives informed consent for the specimens prior to the operation. The Thoracic Oncology Laboratory is using Version 2.0 of Xenobase, a proprietary analysis system developed at the Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for clinical, genomic, and proteomic analyses.

The Thoracic Oncology Bank consists of tissue from nearly 2,000 patients. There are over 2,000 tissue specimens, including fresh-frozen and OCT embedded. In addition, there are thousands of blood specimens, including serum, plasma, mononuclear cells, RNA, and DNA. The banks also offer thousands of sputum samples, and hundreds of pleural and pericardial effusion specimens.

Dr. Pass and William Rom, MD, are both Principal Investigators for the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) of the NCI/NIH. These separate NIH archives are used not only for intramural collaborations at NYU but also to establish reference sets of specimens for the EDRN. Drs. Rom and Pass are investigating novel markers for mesothelioma and lung cancer, and specimens from Dr. Rom's asbestos-exposed Con-Edison Lung Cancer Screening Program participants are used as controls for Dr. Pass' studies. Drs. Pass and Rom are also collaborating with the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) using their specimens to study lung cancer mitochondrial DNA.

Inventory

Totals:
Patients: 2936
Patient Visits: 7360
Patients with Tissue: 285
Aliquots: 41217

Aliquot Breakdown:
Serum: 17892
Plasma: 10778
Whole Blood: 10
Mononuclear Cells: 68
Buffy Coat: 528
Cell Pellet - Blood: 38
Frozen Tissue: 2197
Frozen (OCT) Block: 61
Frozen Section: 23
Tissue Section – Stained: 8
Blood RNA: 3387
Sputum RNA: 277
BAL RNA: 13
Blood DNA: 1469
Sputum DNA: 305
BAL DNA: 3
Blood Protein: 1243
Sputum Protein: 273
BAL Protein: 2
Blood Supernatant: 5
Sputum Supernatant: 1698
Effusion – Paracardial: 36
Effusion – Pleural: 589
Effusion – Ascites: 10
Bronchial Washing/Brushing: 6