The Clinical Tissue Microarray Database combines and annotates scanned tissue microarray images currently generated in the Department of Surgical Pathology's tissue microarray unit. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) are microscopic slides upon which sections of hundreds of small tissue cores (from many different tissue sources) have been reproducibly gridded. These slides may be stained using a variety of chemical and immunohistochemical (antibody) stains. TMAs are typically used to screen hundreds of tissue samples with a single antibody. These data sets will be retrospectively and prospectively annotated with clinical data. ClinTMA is a resource from which these TMA data can be shared, searched, retrieved and analyzed for research purposes. It is operated by the Bioinformatics Core.
Objectives:
- Combine TMA data.
- Consistently and prospectively annotate genomic datasets with biological, clinical and outcome information.
- Implement a system to effectively and efficiently share, search, retrieve and analyze TMA data for research purposes.
The Database & Reagent Registry is an online system for registering and searching for databases and reagent collections owned by investigators, services, or departments. In other words, it is an institutional "yellow pages" that may be used to locate databases as well as biological and chemical reagents that have been collected throughout MSKCC. It is hoped that this registry will ultimately facilitate and stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration among MSKCC's basic and clinical researchers.
Within the registry, databases and reagent collections may be described as clinical database, cell line collection, small molecule library, slide presentation, supplementary website or tissue/sample bank.
Pathlite is a de-identified query portal for diagnostic records for the paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed tissue archive of the Department of Pathology. It is accessible by MSK personnel and is intended to assist investigators in the development of clinical and basic research studies by providing information about the extent of this tissue archive.
In order to support multi-institutional studies the Bioinformatics Core is developing a multi-institution, human subject accrual system called "Study Tracker". The Study Tracker will allow the PI of the Administrative Core to track subject accruals to individual study arms, and will be designed to address the following use cases:
- How many patients have been accrued to the individual arms, and which arms need additional accruals?
- How many patients have responded to therapy?
- How many patients have had adverse events?
- Which patients need additional data?
