The CHTN is a group of six academic institutions funded by the National Cancer Institute to work together to provide remnant human tissue and fluids to investigators throughout the United States and elsewhere. The CHTN provides malignant, benign, diseased, normal and fluid biospecimens from routine surgical resections and autopsies. Biospecimens are collected prospectively according to the investigator's protocol and can be provided to the investigator fresh, frozen or as paraffin blocks and/or slides.
The CHTN is not a bank and therefore does not have a catalog of biospecimens. The CHTN is a prospective collection service. However, some biospecimens are banked for a limited time. Banked biospecimens that meet an investigator's request will be made available.
Investigators must submit a completed CHTN Application[DOC], signed copy of the Data Use Agreement and a copy of your Institutional Review Board letter of approval, exemption or review to use human biospecimens for your project to your primary division. Your primary division will coordinate the receipt and approval of your application and will be responsible for most of the primary communication with you. Applications requesting pediatric biospecimens only should be submitted directly to the Pediatric Division. Contact Us!
The CHTN charges a nominal processing fee for its services. Our support from the NCI partially subsidizes a reduced rate for investigators affiliated with academic, government, and non-commercial entities. Investigators with open/active requests for biospecimens are responsible for all fees associated with any biospecimens procured for them, until the request is either inactivated or placed on hold. This includes biospecimens that are refused without appropriate justification, especially biospecimens specifically collected to fill individual requests. Failure to make timely remittance for services may result in penalties to the principal investigator or his/her institution, including but not limited to, loss of access to future services from the CHTN. Click here for the CHTN processing fees.
All active CHTN investigators with open/active requests for the procurement of biospecimens are responsible for all biospecimens procured for them until the request is either inactivated or placed on hold by the investigator. Because the CHTN is a prospective procurement program, resources are allocated for the collection of biospecimens requested by investigators. Therefore, the CHTN expects investigators to accept the biospecimens collected on their behalf. Failure to accept procured samples may result in penalties to the principal investigator or his/her institution, including but not limited to, loss of access to future services from the CHTN.
Payment of the CHTN processing and other fees is made directly to the division supplying the services; the method of payment is subject to local institutional requirements. Some divisions may accept credit card payments; however, investigators applying for the CHTN services should be prepared to make payment by check for services provided by divisions not accepting credit cards. Payment method is at the discretion of the CHTN and its divisions. Currently, the divisions accepting credit card payments do not impose a processing fee, but they do reserve the right to change this policy. Currently, the CHTN Midwestern (The Ohio State University), Pediatric (Nationwide Children's Hospital) and Western Divisions accept MasterCard and VISA.
A copy of the pathology report from which with all identifying information has been removed is provided with most samples. Standard information provided includes the age, race, and sex of the patient, the surgical pathology diagnosis, and the quality control diagnosis of the tissue. Copies of the reports are sent with the samples with the exception of biospecimens shipped fresh overnight. A pathology reports for fresh biospecimen samples will be provided when it becomes available.
The mission of the CHTN is to provide basic biospecimens for research; this does not include routine clinical history or follow-up information. Investigators may, however, request biospecimens from cases that meet certain criteria, if those criteria are specified before the biospecimens are collected. Requested clinical history or follow up information that is available will be provided, for an additional cost, only when the privacy and the confidentiality of the patient are guaranteed.
No. The CHTN does not provide cells, cell separation, or cell culture services. If you are requesting cells or cell cultures, please visit the American Type Culture Collection 
(ATCC) web site.
The CHTN has access to remnant blood from the clinical laboratories, and there are several CHTN divisions that have access to consented patient populations in which blood/blood products can be obtained specifically for research purposes. There may be limitations on the volume a division can supply based on the need for patient diagnosis or IRB restrictions, which may limit the number of milliliters obtained for research. The CHTN Coordinator responsible for your geographic location will answer questions regarding availability and specifics regarding the collection and processing. If an investigator requires large amounts (i.e. 10 ml) of blood or blood products, the investigator can contact the NCI Tissue Expediter (tissexp@mail.nih.gov) who will refer you to other resources.
The CHTN has a range of tissue microarray (TMA) slides available, which include surveys of normal tissues and several common cancers. These arrays are suitable as preliminary screening tools or to supplement other findings. Detailed clinical annotation, treatment and outcome are not provided. Our available TMA designs change based on feedback we receive from researchers, but the CHTN does not custom fabricate TMA blocks for individual projects. Please visit our TMA web site for more information.
Yes, but with certain requirements. CHTN biospecimens can only be used for research purposes. Biospecimens and/or derivatives may not be used in products intended for sale or redistribution, nor may they be provided to third parties without prior CHTN approval. If you are uncertain if your proposed usage is acceptable, please submit the application with detailed description of the proposed usage and a board-certified pathologist will review it. If we anticipate any problems, you will be contacted. Alternatively, if you wish to know if your proposed usage of the biospecimens is acceptable before you complete the application, email your proposed project to your primary division so that it can be reviewed by the principal investigator of the division, and he/she will make a determination as to whether or not the request can be served.
Because we operate as a prospective service, the answers to these questions vary with each request. Investigators are asked to provide us with a minimum to maximum size that they can use. The smaller the sample size that you can accept, the more samples will be available. Requests for larger samples are harder to fulfill because the CHTN will fill requests for smaller samples first in order to serve as many investigators as possible. In addition, larger samples may not be as readily available. You may specify a specific number of samples you would like, or you may have an open-ended request. The length of time it takes to serve a request is impossible to estimate. It will depend upon the requirements of your protocol, the availability of the samples requested, and the number of investigators requesting the same tissue type.
No, the CHTN does NOT provide fetal biospecimens.
The five adult divisions that comprise the CHTN are The University of Pennsylvania, The University of Virginia, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and The Ohio State University. The CHTN has one division that specializes in the procurement and distribution of pediatric tissues, Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Each of the divisions has arrangements with their institutional hospitals, local hospitals and other subcontract hospitals to collect biospecimens.
No, but the CHTN guarantees at least 10% tumor in a tumor specimen. A specimen can be enriched by macrodissection for an additional charge. Click here for more information on macrodissection.
No, the CHTN does not perform clinical tests on tissue (e.g. for the presence of infective agents such as hepatitis). While the CHTN attempts to avoid providing tissues that are contaminated with highly infectious agents such as hepatitis and HIV, all tissues should be handled as if potentially infectious. Recipients must also agree not to perform such tests on the tissues supplied by the CHTN.
An authorized signature is the signature from someone other than the applying PI who is responsible for the applying investigator and his/her research. For academic investigators, an official from your Office of Research or Technology Transfer Office is acceptable. For commercial investigators, the CEO or representative from your legal department is acceptable.
Your primary division will review your request(s) and determine whether it can be served locally. If not, your request(s) will be shared with the other divisions (networked). If your request is networked, a CHTN divisional representative will contact you when samples become available to arrange shipping from that division.
The CHTN's Agreement for Use of Tissue states that investigators agree to acknowledge the contributions of the Cooperative Human Tissue Network in all publications resulting from the use of these tissues. The following is one suggestion on how to acknowledge the CHTN: Tissue samples were provided by the Cooperative Human Tissue Network which is funded by the National Cancer Institute. Other investigators may have received specimens from the same subjects.
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