Pathology Archives
About
As a byproduct of the standard histologic processing that occurs during the clinical activities of the UVA Health System, tissue samples are present as formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks in the archives of the Department of Pathology. These samples represent biopsies, surgical resections and autopsies. These samples are part of the medical record, but excess material in these specimens may be used for research purposes. This requires appropriate UVA Institutional Review Board for Health Sciences Research (IRB-HSR) approval or non-human subjects research determination and also oversight by appropriate members of the Department of Pathology.
The BTRF is the institution’s designated point of contact for requesting materials from the Pathology Archives for research. The Faculty Director of the BTRF, Dr. Chris Moskaluk, is a member of the clinical faculty of the Pathology Department and supervises access to these materials.
Any release of material must be reviewed and approved by a BTRF-affiliated Pathologist or a collaborating clinical faculty member of the Pathology Department. It is institutional policy and a College of American Pathologists (CAP) accreditation requirement that original diagnostic blocks and slides must be retained and may not be released. Material available from archival cases is generally limited to recut histologic sections or core punches which do not deplete the diagnostic material.
Investigators requesting archival materials must submit a BTRF application and must have appropriate human subject approvals or a coded specimen protocol in the same fashion as general requests for BTRF banked specimens or tissue procurement. Please see https://med.virginia.edu/biorepository-and-tissue-research-facility/services/requesting-biospecimens/s for guidance on requesting specimens through the BTRF
Clinical studies requesting archival materials must submit the request in advance in the same fashion as general requests for Clinical Trial and Clinical Research Support. Please see https://med.virginia.edu/biorepository-and-tissue-research-facility/services/clinical-trial-and-clinical-research-support for guidance on requesting support from the BTRF and request for the OCR (Cancer center) group will go through RedCap.
Once the request is approved, the study team can request archival specimen according to the instruction below,
- Fill out the request form, Archival specimen request form for clinical trials
- E-mail the request to: Angela Miller arl8q@uvahealth.org and
Amanda Huntley ajb4yj@uvahealth.org and copy Pat Pramoonjago pp6f@uvahealth.org
- Once materials have been prepared, the BTRF will contact the requester, and they may be picked up from the BTRF lab during normal working hours.
- Normal turnaround for Routine requests is a minimum of 5-7 working days. Minimum turnaround for Rush requests is 2-3 working days, 2 working days should be expected for assessment only to allow for specimens stored in the off-site warehouse and for us to schedule time with an available pathologist.
- If materials for the case are inadequate to meet study requirements or the case is unavailable, the BTRF will relay this determination to the study team. It is the responsibility of the study team to confer with the sponsor regarding exceptions to the requirements.
- Unless arrangements have been made in advance, it is the responsibility of the study team to send the materials to the sponsor.
- Technician time for retrieving and refiling a case and any pathologist consultation time are billable, regardless of whether the case is used.
- There is an additional 25 % charge for rush cases.
- Can we cut section from Fine Needle Aspiration(FNA) or Bone Marrow (BH) samples/biopsies?
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide aspirate specific slides as this is done at time of procedure and can’t be obtained after the fact.
From the biopsy portion of a FNA or Bone Marrow we usually can safely provide 5-10 unstained slides without depleting the block. Each block is unique and may or may not have adequate tissue remaining after clinical labs have used for diagnostic purposes.
- Can the BTRF make FFPE blocks from core punches?
Yes, the BTRF can create a new FFPE block of core punches from the original clinical block.
- What is the standard procedure for baking slide at the BTRF?
Slides will be incubated at 37°C for overnight.
- “Can you hold on to this block until next month? We’re not sure if we need it or not.”
When blocks and slides are pulled to determine eligibility for trials, BTRF can hold them for a maximum of two weeks. After that they need to be returned to Clinical Archives. Once it has been returned to Clinical Archives, we cannot guarantee the quantity of material available for future use. If in the future the material is deemed necessary additional charges pull and refile will be applied to the account.