National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank: a standard based biospecimen and clinical data resource to enhance translational research

Our plain-English summary of National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank: a standard based biospecimen and clinical data resource to enhance translational research, by W. Amin, A.V. Parwani, L. Schmandt, et al (BMC Cancer, 2008).

The study

• Authors: W. Amin, A.V. Parwani, L. Schmandt, S.K. Mohanty, G. Farhat, A.K. Pople, S.B. Winters, N.B. Whelan, A.M. Schneider, J.T. Milnes, F.A. Valdivieso, M. Feldman, H.I. Pass, R. Dhir, J. Melamed, M.J. Becich
• Journal: BMC Cancer
• Published: 2008;8:236
• Cited by: 24 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Background: Advances in translational research have led to the need for well characterized biospecimens for research. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank is an initiative which collects annotated datasets relevant to human mesothelioma to develop an enterprising biospecimen resource to fulfill researchers' need.

Methods: The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank architecture is based on three major components: (a) common data elements (based on College of American Pathologists protocol and National North American Association of Central Cancer Registries standards), (b) clinical and epidemiologic data annotation, and (c) data query tools. These tools work interoperably to standardize the entire process of annotation. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank tool is based upon the caTISSUE Clinical Annotation Engine, developed by the University of Pittsburgh in cooperation with the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG, see http://cabig.nci.nih.gov). This application provides a web-based system for annotating, importing and searching mesothelioma cases. The underlying information model is constructed utilizing Unified Modeling Language class diagrams, hierarchical relationships and Enterprise Architect software.

Result: The database provides researchers real-time access to richly annotated specimens and integral information related to mesothelioma. The data disclosed is tightly regulated depending upon users' authorization and depending on the participating institute that is amenable to the local Institutional Review Board and regulation committee reviews.

Conclusion: The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank currently has over 600 annotated cases available for researchers that include paraffin embedded tissues, tissue microarrays, serum and genomic DNA. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank is a virtual biospecimen registry with robust translational biomedical informatics support to facilitate basic science, clinical, and translational research. Furthermore, it protects patient privacy by disclosing only de-identified datasets to assure that biospecimens can be made accessible to researchers.

In plain English

This article described how the National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank, funded by the CDC and NIOSH, was built. The bank collects mesothelioma tissue, blood and DNA samples with clinical data. It was not a study of asbestos exposure and reported no health findings. Cases came from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh and New York University. For prospective collection, people had to be receiving or seeking mesothelioma care, aged 18 or older and able to give informed consent; prisoners were excluded. Archived cases were enrolled separately through an 'honest broker' system. The authors reported over 650 archived and prospective cases and more than 775 biospecimens. They expected over 700 annotated cases of pleural, peritoneal and pericardial mesothelioma by the end of the second quarter of 2008. Researchers saw only de-identified data. The authors named two challenges, identifying the same patient across hospital sources and collecting accurate data in its proper context, which they attributed largely to manual data collection. They concluded that the bank was the largest nationwide resource for archived and prospective mesothelioma biospecimens.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Descriptive report on the design and contents of a biospecimen and clinical data resource (tissue bank and web database); not an epidemiological or clinical study
• Who was studied: Mesothelioma cases (pleural, peritoneal, pericardial) from three participating institutions (University of Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, New York University). Prospective participants had to be receiving or seeking care for mesothelioma, be 18 or older and be able to provide informed consent; patients under 18 and prisoners were excluded. Retrospective (archived) cases were identified and enrolled through an honest broker system.
• Exposure: Not studied; the article does not discuss asbestos, fiber types or occupational exposure
• Main results:
  • The resource held over 650 archived and prospective mesothelioma cases
  • The resource provided more than 775 biospecimens from surgical resections and biopsies, plus whole blood and DNA samples
  • The authors projected over 700 annotated cases of pleural, peritoneal and pericardial mesothelioma by the end of the second quarter of 2008
  • The first tissue microarray was made available to investigators along with de-identified clinical, pathology and follow-up data
  • Each case was assigned a de-identified NMVB number
  • 20% of newly entered cases were re-evaluated as a quality audit
  • Only investigators approved by the IRB and Scientific Review Committee could access the detailed query tool; a summary statistical database was open to the public
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the NMVB was the largest nationwide resource for archived and prospective mesothelioma biospecimens with associated clinical data, and that its query tool protected patient privacy by disclosing only de-identified data
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The challenges were identifying the same patient across different hospital data sources and collecting accurate data in precise context
  • The authors described these challenges as largely due to manual data collection and recording
  • Data with a time relationship had to be monitored for context before it could be entered into the database

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• The development and deployment of Common Data Elements for tissue banks for translational research in cancer - an emerging standard based approach for the Mesothelioma Virtual Tissue Bank — S.K. Mohanty, A.T. Mistry, et al. (2008)
• National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank: A Platform for Collaborative Research and Mesothelioma Biobanking Resource to Support Translational Research — W. Amin, A.V. Parwani, et al. (2013)
• Factors influencing malignant mesothelioma survival: a retrospective review of the National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank cohort — W. Amin, F. Linkov, et al. (2018)
• Industry, occupation, and exposure history of mesothelioma patients in the U.S. National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank, 2006-2022 — Y. Gao, J.M. Mazurek, et al. (2023)
• A decade of experience in the development and implementation of tissue banking informatics tools for intra and inter-institutional translational research — W. Amin, H. Singh, et al. (2010)
• The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre lung cancer clinical audit: collecting the UK National Lung Cancer Audit data from hospitals in Australia — L. Mileshkin, C. Dunn, et al. (2019)

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