AIDS
MALIGNANCY BANK
What is the AIDS Malignancy Bank?
The National Cancer Institute established centers in the
United States and its territories for the collection
and distribution of tissues, blood and secretions from
patients with clinically-characterized AIDS related malignancies
in 1994. The AIDS Malignancy Bank makes these tissues
available to qualified investigators in the United States
for research on AIDS malignancies. It is hoped that by
providing access to these high-quality specimens, research
in AIDS-related malignancies will be encouraged and expanded.
What does the AIDS Malignancy Bank provide?
The AMB contains formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues,
fresh-frozen tissues, malignant-cell suspensions, fine-needle
aspirates, and cell lines from AIDS-related malignancies.
The bank also contains serum, plasma, urine, bone marrow,
cervical secretions, anal swabs, saliva semen and multi-site
autopsy tissues from patients with AIDS-related malignancies
who have participated in clinical trials. The bank has
an associated database that contains prognostic, staging,
outcome and treatment data on patients from whom tissues
were obtained. Researchers pay for preparation and shipping
of specimens.
How do I apply?
The AMB Steering Committee solicits and evaluates letters
of intent from investigators in a short period of time
and with a minimum of paper work, to facilitate meeting
NIH AIDS grant submission deadlines. The NCI AMB will
make public, in a Request for Letters of Intent, specimens
that are available for study. An investigator obtains
and completes a Letter of Intent (LOI) and returns it
to the NCI AMB on specified dates.
How are Letters of Intent evaluated?
The LOI is reviewed by an independent Research Evaluation
and Decision Panel (REDP) composed of experts in the
field of AIDS malignancy research. A priority score is
attached and forwarded to the AMB Steering Committee
to make sure that the specimens are available. If the
tissues requested are available, the LOIs with the highest
priority are provided a Letter of Approval, which commits
the AMB to provide the necessary specimens once funding
of the study has been approved. This Letter of Approval
may be incorporated into NIH or other grant applications.
After a notification is received by the AMB Steering
Committee that funding exists or was obtained specimens
are released to the investigator. Investigators who fail
to obtain funding within 6 months will have their Letter
of Approval voided and those tissues will become available
to other investigators in the next cycle.
For more
information contact:
John
Flickinger
SF General Hospital
AIDS Program Ward 84
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