# Core 2: Biospecimen/Pathology Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $129,282

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY 
The purpose of this shared resource is to provide human tissues, biological fluids, and expert 
pathologic interpretation for investigators in all of the projects under the direction of expert 
pathologists. The Histopathology and Tissue/Biologic Fluids Resource has been in existence 
since 1986 and expanded under the support of the GI SPORE. As of this year, the Resource 
includes 3156 banked colorectal carcinoma resection specimens, 363 colorectal adenoma 
samples, 430 hepatic metastases of colorectal carcinoma, 1204 pancreatic carcinoma 
specimens, 843 xenografts of colorectal carcinoma, 101 pancreatic carcinoma xenografts, 6085 
blood specimens from individuals at risk for colorectal carcinoma, and 2122 blood specimens 
from patients with pancreatic carcinoma. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues, frozen 
materials and clinical and outcome data are available for the vast majority of resection 
specimens. This resource has collections to include high quality snap frozen and formalin fixed 
samples of end stage pancreatic or colorectal cancer from 125 rapid autopsy participants. 
Presently there are 911 tissue microarrays of which 133 are of colorectal and pancreatic 
neoplasms and diseases. In addition, over 16 fully characterized pancreatic carcinoma cell 
lines, including 8 familial pancreatic cancer cell lines have been prepared from human tumors 
and shared broadly with the research community. The biospecimens are harvested and banked 
in accordance with the National Cancer Institute's Best Practice Guidelines for Biorepositories. 
Distribution of these specimens to SPORE investigators has resulted in over 120 publications in 
the past 5 years. This Core procures additional xenografts, fresh frozen colorectal and 
pancreatic neoplasms and blood and pancreatic juice samples, and provides expert pathologic 
consultation to investigators. Specimens are collected under the supervision of pathologists 
with expertise in colorectal and pancreatic neoplasia in close collaboration with clinical 
specialists in these areas and in similarly close collaboration with basic research investigators to 
maximize translational impact of the projects. We maintain a password protected web-based 
tracking system for our tissues in this core. This Web-based interface follows the 
recommendations of the National Research Council, and includes user authentication, 
encryption, audit trails, and disaster recovery. A mechanism is in place for prioritization of 
distribution of requested resources to investigators within and external to the Johns Hopkins GI 
Cancer SPORE. Biosamples have been shared with investigators at over 50 other institutions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10480040
- **Project number:** 5P50CA062924-28
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth D Thompson
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $129,282
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-02-28 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10480040

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10480040, Core 2: Biospecimen/Pathology Core (5P50CA062924-28). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10480040. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*