A multidisciplinary approach to optimize primary prostate cancer biobanking

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Genomics
• Pathology

Background:

• High-quality biobanking of prostate cancer (CaP) tissue is crucial for advancing cancer genomics research.
• Challenges in biobanking primary CaP tissue include difficulty in gross visualization and multifocal tumor characteristics.
• Optimizing tissue fidelity and volume is essential for the generalizability of genomic data in precision medicine.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a protocol that enhances the fidelity and quantity of biobanked primary prostate cancer tissue.
• To compare the efficacy of a next-generation protocol (NGP) against a standard protocol (SP) for tissue biobanking.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study was conducted comparing the standard protocol (SP) and the next-generation protocol (NGP) for biobanking primary prostate cancer tissue.
• Pathologic concordance between biobanked tissue and radical prostatectomy (RP) specimens was evaluated.
• Clinical and pathologic characteristics were analyzed between the two protocol arms.

Main Results:

• The NGP resulted in a significantly higher rate of pathologic concordance between biobanked and RP specimens (61.8% vs. 37.9%, P=0.0231).
• The NGP nearly doubled the amount of biobanked tumor tissue compared to the SP (330 mm³ vs. 174 mm³, P<0.001).
• NGP was independently associated with improved pathologic concordance on both univariate and multivariate analyses.

Conclusions:

• The NGP is validated as a multidisciplinary approach for improving the fidelity and quantity of biobanked primary CaP tissue.
• Optimizing biobanked tissue is a critical step towards enhancing the generalizability of genomic data for precision medicine.
• The NGP offers a significant advancement for future prostate cancer research and precision oncology.