Biospecimen Collection & Banking Core

Comprehensive biospecimen management for cancer research

The Biospecimen Collection and Banking Core—or BC²—merges the Tissue Procurement Core, the Komen Tissue Bank, and the biobanking efforts of the Clinical Trials Office and the Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN).

Under the leadership of medical director Anna Maria Storniolo, MD, the core supports cancer research by providing comprehensive biospecimen management, including:

  • Collection
  • Storage
  • Distribution
  • Annotation (in collaboration with others)

We also encompass three working groups:

  • Regulatory and Data
  • Sample Acquisition
  • Outreach/Recruitment/Communication 

For more information about BC², contact Jill Henry at jihenry@iupui.edu or 317-278-2829.

Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank

The Komen Tissue Bank (KTB) at IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only normal breast tissue biorepository of its kind in the world, making it uniquely positioned to characterize the molecular and genetic basis of normal breast development and compare it to the different types of breast cancer.

It was established expressly for the acquisition of normal  tissues — breast tissue, cryopreserved tissue, serum, plasma and DNA — from volunteer donors with no clinical evidence of breast disease and/or malignancy, providing a resource to investigators around the globe.

KTB Resources for Researchers

The specific aims of the Tissue Procurement and Distribution Core are:

  • Specific Aim 1: To provide well-annotated, diverse, high quality biologic material to support basic and translational solid tumor research.
  • Specific Aim 2: To coordinate procurement, processing, storage, and management of tissue samples collected in conjunction with therapeutic and correlative solid tumor clinical trials.
  • Specific Aim 3: To develop and maintain tissue microarrays to support biomarker research.
  • Specific Aim 4: To collaborate with investigators to provide analyses of banked, archived, or tissue microarray samples, including pathologic characterization and immunohistochemistry.

Fee for Service Rates

Effective: July 1, 2023

Specimen TypeIUEXTERNAL
Blood Collection: Plasma, serum or buffy coat$10$30
Blood or BMA Collection with PBMC processing & CD selection (per sample)$307$921
Blood or BMA Collection with PBMC processing (per sample)$198$594
Blood or BMA Collection: whole blood (no processing)$29$87
Consultation & Training- TPDC equipment (per hour)$45$135
Croypreseved Tissue (investigator provided media)$132$396
FFPE Tissue (collection/processing/embedding)$128$384
FFPE Tissue - each additional tissue type from same case$25$75
Fresh & Frozen & FFPE (same tissue type)$160$480
Fresh & Frozen (same tissue type)$129$387
Fresh Tissue Collection in Media/Ascites or Pleural Fluid collection$92$276
Fresh Tissue- each additional tissue type from same case$22$66
Frozen & FFPE Tissue (same tissue type)$149$447
Frozen Tissue - each additional tissue type from same case$24$72
Frozen Tissue Collection (up to 150 mg)$101$303
H&E Slide Preparation$19$57
Pathology Report$34$102
Patient Administration Fee (recruitment, consenting, registration, and document maintenance)$34$102
Priority Processing Fee/Rush Requests (per 10 samples)$34$102
RNA Later (per tissue type)$12$36
Shipping Supplies (ambient/wet ice per shipping container)$30$90
Shipping Supplies (frozen/dry ice per shipping container)$40$120
Slide Paraffin Sections (per 5 slides)$24$72
Slide or Chart Review (per hour)$34$102
Storage Fees (frozen per box per year)$26$78
TMA Build Only (61-90 cores)$775$2,325
TMA Build Only (up to 60 cores)$550$1,650
Technician Rate (per hour)$34$102
Tissue Microarray (60 cores or less) $2,035$6,105
Tissue Microarray (61-90 cores) $3,028$9,084
Urine Collection (per 10 ml aliquot)$24$72
Urine Collection (per 1ml aliquots)$10$30

If you are a cancer center member, please contact Pam Rockey at prockey@iu.edu for additional rate information.

Confidentiality

Tissue procurement maintains patient confidentiality by using a database system, Oncore BSM, which utilizes unique patient identifiers and limits access by investigators to the encryption code.

Conflict resolution

Conflicts/problems are resolved by the oversight committee. A written or verbal request may be submitted to any committee member who will in turn present it to the entire committee to resolve.

Cost recovery/payment policies 

The advisory committee oversees the annual costs and charges for specimen collection, storage, distribution and shipping. Payment is requested within 45 days after delivery.

Prioritization of work

The oversight committee sets the guidelines and procurement prioritization for various research groups. Indiana University researchers are given first priority, followed by outside collaborators such as Purdue, and followed by industry sponsors.

Publication acknowledgment

If research supported by the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center Tissue Procurement & Distribution Core results in publication, please acknowledge this support by including the following in your publication(s):

We would like to thank the Biospecimen Collection and Banking Core at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center who provided _____ service in support of this study. We thank contributors, including Indiana University, who collected samples and/or data used in this study, as well as study participants whose help and participation made this work possible.

There is no expectation of authorship for any of the facility staff.

Contact the KTB team

Connect with Jill Henry, Chief Operating Officer, at jihenry@iupui.edu or 317-278-2829, or Kathi Ridley-Merriweather, Communication and Minority Outreach Coordinator, at keridley@iupui.edu or 317-274-2366.

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