Tissue network joins HUP

With new breakthroughs continuously changing the face of medicine, research has increasingly been thrown into the spotlight. Yet while much of the attention has focused on scientists, the tools they use have become equally important. This year the University took an active role in providing these tools. In the fall, the Medical Center's Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department became home to the Eastern Division of the Cooperative Human Tissue Network, a nationwide organization which provides tissue, and blood and marrow samples to researchers. CHTN's Principal Investigator Virginia LiVolsi, who is also vice chairperson of the Anatomic Pathology Department, oversees CHTN's medical aspects and was the main impetus for relocating the Eastern Division of the CHTN to the University. And after its previous location at the National Disease Research Interchange decided to concentrate on other areas of research, the University became the program's obvious choice, said Kelly Feil, the director of CHTN's Eastern Division. "The amazing resources -- both educational and medical -- Penn offers and the proximity to research facilities ?[such as] the Wistar Institute and the Children's Hospital" constituted another reason for the move, LiVolsi said. Founded in 1987 with the support of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health, the CHTN works to provide "equitable access to researchers," as well as "quality controlled and pathologically correct samples," according to Feil. The center is able to provide open access to its samples through a rigorous review process of the fifty applications or "protocols" received each year, each of which contains anywhere from one to several hundred requests for different tissue samples. First priority generally goes to "peer-reviewed investigators," and last to for-profit organizations. Feil is quick to point out that "the samples may not be used for commercial purposes." Because of government funding, the fee to researchers is minimal, usually running to no more than $20. As part of a specific request, the CHTN then procures the requested tissue from a nearby hospital. "We can find normal tissue, tumor tissue and samples from a donor of a specific age, race, sex and condition, as well as a similar variety of blood and marrow," Feil said. And while 60 percent of applicants request cancerous tissues, samples can also come from donors afflicted with other diseases. The only cases the CHTN specifically does not handle are those which involve infectious agents such as HIV or Hepatitis B. Samples come from otherwise discarded tissue taken from a patient, or from a cadaver if decay is negligible and if the cadaver is not needed for an autopsy. "However the tissue is obtained, patient confidentiality is always of the utmost importance and the donor's identity is never released with the sample," Feil said. In addition, the CHTN packages tissues according to the request, meaning "cutting the sample down to size, preparing it frozen in liquid nitrogen, in paraffin blocks or transporting it with antibiotics." In order to ensure quality and pathological accuracy, the samples are microscopically examined before distribution. This is often the responsibility of pathologists under the direction of LiVolsi. "I take care of the medical side, making sure all the samples have been examined correctly," said LiVolsi, adding that she also spends time "working with the researchers and reviewing their projects." Often close feedback from the CHTN is necessary, especially when the request concerns a more obscure sample, such as brain tumor or breast cancer tissues. "Today tumors are being detected much earlier so when they are taken out they are often much smaller," said LiVolsi. In such cases, LiVolsi tries to find a way for the researcher to use a smaller or differently cut sample. Both LiVolsi and Feil are looking forward to CHTN's partnership with the University. "We are just thrilled to be here," Feil said.