Biospecimen use in cancer research over two decades

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Biomedical Research
• Scientific Publishing Trends

Background:

• Growing demand for biospecimens in cancer research necessitates understanding usage trends.
• Limited data exists on historical biospecimen utilization patterns.
• Accurate projections of future biospecimen demand are crucial for resource planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze trends in biospecimen usage in cancer research publications over a 20-year period.
• To quantify changes in biospecimen cohort size and format over time.
• To project future demand for different types of biospecimens in cancer research.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of publications across four major cancer research journals at five-year intervals (1988-2008).
• Categorization of publications based on biospecimen utilization (yes/no), cohort size, and specimen format (frozen, FFPE, fresh, fluids, hematological).
• Statistical analysis of cohort size and specimen format trends.

Main Results:

• Biospecimens were utilized in 39% of analyzed publications.
• Significant increase in average cohort size from 52 (1988) to 198 (2008) for tissue biospecimens.
• Shift in tissue usage from frozen/fresh alone (71% to 24%) towards Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) or combined FFPE/frozen cohorts (24% to 72%).

Conclusions:

• Overall demand for biospecimens in cancer research has quadrupled over two decades.
• Average cohort sizes for frozen and FFPE biospecimens are predicted to at least double in the next ten years.
• Future cancer research will likely rely heavily on FFPE tissues or combined FFPE/frozen tissue cohorts.