Since the beginning, the scientific research was an integral part of the
mission of the European Oncology Institute (IEO). Its position is at the intersection
between Surgical Units, the Department of Pathology and Research Units. This
organization makes the IEO Biobank for Translational Medicine (B4MED) a critical
resource that reflects the mission of IEO to perform “Research for Care”.
The B4MED collects, catalogues and stores biological samples that are non-essential
for diagnostic purposes from patients who provide informed consent for the use of their
tissues for research purposes. A direct pipeline with the operating theatres for the
collection of tissue samples ensures negligible sample degradation. Surgically-excised
pathological and non-pathological tissue samples, plasma/serum, total blood, DNA and
RNA are collected and stored according to specific protocols and standard operating
procedures. All biobanked samples are managed and tracked through a software
package that is fully integrated with the hospital medical records database, pathology
database and central registry of patient demographic information. This ensures that
each sample is linked to a full complement of anonymous or anonymized (according to
patient choice) patient information that is accessible solely by authorized Biobank
personnel.
The high quality biospecimens collected by the B4MED are used for biomarker and
drug discovery experiments, both for basic research and for clinical research, with the
ultimate aim of providing excellence in patient care through excellence in research.
Keywords: B4MED IEOBiobank for Translational Medicine Unit, Handling,
Participation Pact, Pathological and non pathological, Sample collection, Storage
and news approach for the pathologist work, Trust-based consent.
