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© Oxford University Press 2006.
NEWS |
New Biorepository Guidelines Raise Concerns
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
A new framework intended to guide management of cancer biological specimen resources has generated as many questions as answers since it made its first public appearance in May.
The National Cancer Institute guidelines spell out the best practices for collecting, storing, and disseminating human cancer tissue and related "biospecimens," a loose term covering any biological material collected from an individual.
Most biobank managers appreciate the need for more standardization, which was first recommended by the Institute of Medicine. But the details of the expanded informed-consent procedures, new operating systems, and expected increased costs to make recommended upgrades have some wondering whether it will be too much for some banks to handle.
"I think if these first-draft federal guidelines become the standard for all NCI-supported biorepositories, a lot of them are going to go out of business," said Virginia LiVolsi, M.D., a pathologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and
Behind the New Rules
Grace Period