# Core 1: Specimen and Data Core

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $387,261

## Abstract

Summary: Specimen and Data Core
 The proposed Specimen & Data Core will serve several central roles within this highly integrated Program
Project: 1) it will consent and enroll all Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) patients into our longitudinal research
study; 2) it will acquire, process, and store all patient blood and tumor tissue and distribute them to the relevant
Projects and the Immunophenotyping Core; and 3) it will obtain patient clinical data over time, and store
research-derived patient results, annotating the samples with corresponding disease status. The proposed
Core will expand both our existing MCC Specimen Repository that has over 20,000 individual specimens from
1,400 patients (as of May 2018) and our Relational Database that annotates those samples and patient
demographics using approximately 200 data fields including clinical treatments, disease status, and response
data, as well as research laboratory results.
 A proposed, essential new role for the Specimen and Data Core will be to acquire tumor samples (including
biopsies obtained for research purposes, rather than only those that were clinically required) from patients
before and after PD-1 checkpoint blockade therapy. Obtaining such tissues is complex and laborious but also
essential for understanding the basis of response and non-response to these important new immune therapies.
An expansion of our Relational Database will involve the addition of over 30 fields to capture new
immunotherapy-related results and experimental data that will be useful for the Projects as well as for the
Immunophenotyping Core and Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Core. The Specimen and Data Core will also track
MCPyV oncoprotein antibody titers to assist in a) detecting early disease recurrence, b) understanding how to
use this recently developed test in patients undergoing PD-1 checkpoint blockade therapy, and c) assisting
Project 3 in understanding the biological basis of why these antibodies rapidly fall when tumor is removed.
Lastly, the Specimen & Data Core will leverage these precious resources by sharing samples and data with the
broader MCC and scientific communities through collaborative studies that have proven extremely productive
in the past, with 43 publications (through May 2018) that have made use of repository specimens and data. 39
of those publications have also involved collaborations with groups outside of Seattle.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10137206
- **Project number:** 5P01CA225517-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** PAUL NGHIEM
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $387,261
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-04 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10137206

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10137206, Core 1: Specimen and Data Core (5P01CA225517-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10137206. Licensed CC0.

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