Abstract IA23: Regional and National Resources to Strengthen Partnerships and Collaborations in Cancer Health Disparities Biospecimen Research
Authors: Wali Anil 
Published: March 2017

Although considerable resources in biospecimen research and technological advances have improved overall cancer-associated morbidity and mortality rates, substantial disparities continue to remain among several racial/ethnic populations who have increased incidence, mortality and/or more aggressive disease for numerous cancer types. Information about the genes, proteins, and other features of a person's molecular profile are now being used to diagnose and treat diseases, including cancer. While there have been some well annotated biospecimens from underrepresented patient populations available to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project and other efforts, the need remains for additional biospecimens to detect moderately common mutational frequencies in racially/ethnically diverse minorities.

The overarching aims of this presentation are to identify both regional and national biospecimen-related resources to support cancer health disparities research. It is the hope that these resources, particularly the national NCI-sponsored biospecimen resources, will support collaborative team science approaches among investigators to address cancer health disparities.

As part of the NCI/CRCHD-supported Geographic Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program (GMaP), which is a regional strategy to build critical “hubs” for the support and efficient management of cancer health disparities research, training and infrastructure programs, there are a number of regional resources to support biospecimen research. These include a high-quality breast cancer tissue microarray (TMA) repository from diverse populations; a culturally adapted, tested and evaluated resource called “Biospecimen 101,” designed to educate and promote biospecimen research engagement among underserved populations; a biospecimen acquisition and translational pathology (BATP) shared resource core facility; a multi-site cancer disparities research network (CDRN) cohort repository that is solely focused on minorities and underserved; and a regional repository of biospecimen and clinical data under the auspices of Total Cancer Care (TCC) protocol used by the national collaborative of the Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN).

Nationally, a wide array of biospecimen resources are also available to conduct biospecimen related research among diverse populations. These include NCI best practices for biospecimen resources, and searchable NCI-supported databases, such as the Specimen Resource Locator (SRL), the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) Residual Tissue Repository (RTR), and NCI-designated cancer center shared resources.

In summary, awareness and use of regional and national resources such as these may further strengthen and enhance biospecimen utilization and collaborative research to help address cancer health disparities within underserved communities.

Citation Format: Anil Wali. Regional and National Resources to Strengthen Partnerships and Collaborations in Cancer Health Disparities Biospecimen Research. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr IA23.