Overall Objective

Our objective is to establish a multi-institutional bladder cancer data and virtual tumor bank.  This bank will be a resource for participating institutions to evaluate the biological and prognostic significance of potential "markers" for bladder cancer. A major advantage of assembling a virtual tissue bank and associated database prospectively, will be the ability to complete marker studies in a short period of time. Importantly, the quality of these prospectively and consistently collected data and samples will be superior to that of retrospectively collected data and samples.

Specific Goals

• Samples will be identified and stored at each participating institution and will be available for analysis by members of this consortium.
• A standard, minimal set of patient information will be collected for patients corresponding to each contributed sample.  The data will reside and be updated at each participating institution.
• Data transfer of updated patient information to a central database will be performed according to an established schedule, using common software.

Advantages

• Future "markers" can be tested either at each institution or contributed to a core center having a special technique or equipment.
• Consistent datasets for statistical analysis will provide information much sooner than with a conventional prospective study, since long term follow-up will already be available at the time that specimens are analyzed. Therefore information on the putative role of a certain "marker" will be available in a short period of time.
• All contributing centers will have access to information on larger numbers of samples for their specific questions. This will also simplify the process of finding collaborating partners.

First Steps

• Development of standards for
  • collection and storage of specimens
  • collection of clinical data on patients and tissue specimens
• Creation of software to
  • simplify and standardize data collection
  • unify data in the central database
• Determination of Consortium policies (e.g. procedures for "donating" tissue to or “requesting“ specimens from the bank or other centers; mechanisms for reviewing requests for specimens;  a system for recording the completion rates and successes of the projects;  publication policies, etc..)
• Establish procedures to monitor and verify data and specimen quality
• Obtain funding

First Meetings

• A summary of the last three meetings is now available
• The next meeting where this project will be discussed:
  NCI-EORTC meeting in Nyborg, Denmark (28. June - 1. July, 2000)
  "From discovery to Clinical Practice"

  Please e-mail us for information or watch the homepage for updates on times and places.

Yours sincerely,
 

Peter J. Goebell, MD USC/Hoffman Medical Research Center Departments of Urology and Pathology 2011 Zonal Avenue, Room 308 Los Angeles, CA 90033 Tel: 323-442-1152 Fax: 323-442-1154 goebell@usc.edu

Susan G. Groshen, PhD USC/Norris Cancer Center Department of Preventive Medicine 1441 Eastlake Avenue, Suite 3419 Los Angeles, CA 90089 Tel: 323-865-0375 Fax: 323-865-0133   groshen@usc.edu