Abstract 4763: NCI's Expert-Vetted Biospecimen Evidence-Based Practices (BEBP): A resource for harmonization of biospecimen collection procedures
Authors: Casas-Silva Esmeralda , Campbell Lori D. , Engel Kelly , Greytak Sarah , Guan Ping , Moore Helen 
Published: August 2018

High quality human biospecimens are essential to clinical diagnosis and treatment and serve as a vital foundation for medical research. Substantial variation in procedures for biospecimen collection, processing, and storage exists within and between institutions. Such variation can have a substantial effect on the quality of biospecimens and the accuracy of downstream analytical results, and is of particular concern at a time of high demand for biospecimens for large-scale studies. Recognizing the need for harmonization of biospecimen practices, the National Cancer Institute (NCI)'s Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research Branch (BBRB) began developing a series of documents known as Biospecimen Evidence-Based Practices (BEBPs). The first of NCI's BEBPs, “Snap-Freezing of Post-surgical Tissue Biospecimens” (https://biospecimens.cancer.gov/global/pdfs/NCI_BEBP_Snap-freezing_of_Post-surgical_Tissue_Biospecimens.pdf), was released in 2014.

BBRB will soon release two new expert-reviewed BEBPs. The first expert-vetted BEBP, “Formalin-Fixation and Paraffin Processing of Tissue Biospecimens”, is a fit-for-purpose guide for formalin fixation, paraffin impregnation, and embedding of human tissues that was reviewed by more than 40 experts as part of a BBRB-sponsored workshop. The second, entitled “DNA and RNA Extraction from Formalin-fixed Paraffin-embedded Tissue Biospecimens”, categorizes steps in the extraction of DNA and RNA that may affect the quality of nucleic acids obtained from FFPE specimens and was reviewed by five experts. Each BEBP has been developed in close partnership with scientists having state-of-the art biospecimen science expertise and a strong publication record. BEBP documents contain step-by-step recommendations and procedural guidelines as well as a summary of supporting literature and expert-derived evidence. Development of each BEBP employs a stringent and thorough analysis of literature indexed in the National Library of Medicine's PubMed database and curated in NCI's publicly accessible Biospecimen Research Database (BRD; http://biospecimens.cancer.gov/brd), a free database of peer-reviewed biospecimen science articles. The database also houses over 400 SOPs searchable by numerous parameters including specimen type, preservation, diagnosis, analyte, pre-analytical factors, and technology platform. Given the nuanced requirements for each individual step in biospecimen collection, NCI's BEBPs serve as a framework to inform the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by individual institutions while providing room for flexibility and adaptation. NCI's BBRB continues to add to its BEBP series to improve the reproducibility of molecular data derived from biospecimens. Experts interested in contributing to future BEBPs are encouraged to contact BBRB at ncibbrb@nih.gov.

Citation Format: Esmeralda Casas-Silva, Lori D. Campbell, Kelly Engel, Sarah Greytak, Ping Guan, Helen Moore. NCI's Expert-Vetted Biospecimen Evidence-Based Practices (BEBP): A resource for harmonization of biospecimen collection procedures [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4763.