Wednesday, June 10, 2009

SARC creating unified database

          SARC will build a database of tissue specimens stored at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The WWWW Foundation has more information: 
The QuadW board and the Tichenor family have combined to provide a three-year $687,500 grant to the Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration (SARC) to create a unified clinical trial database system.

The database will consolidate findings from the clinical trials of multiple research institutions, allowing remote data entry and access for current trials. Researchers will be able to customize the user interface to suit individual trials and access data from previous trials and combine it in flexible ways with current research data.

SARC is a primary resource for sarcoma researchers and clinicians. As a collaborative effort of leading cancer centers, SARC guides the development of clinical trial protocols and provides a forum for reporting and evaluating the results of those trials.
          SARC Treasurer Bob Benjamin, chair of Anderson's Sarcoma Center, discussed the database last month before the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Orlando. Dr. Benjamin said the data should be collected this year, with tissue samples and imaging tests gathered together next year.
          I'm grateful to those who made this happen. If you want more information on the need for tissue banks, I wrote this article previously. -- Suzie Siegel

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