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Description
Advances in genetics and molecular biology greatly expanded the potential of banking human tissue specimens for the purpose of cancer research. As a result of the novel diagnostic and therapeutic improvements that have already been made in the course of human tissue-based cancer research, it is expected that future breakthroughs will rely on the availability and procurement of human tissue specimens. The Moores Cancer Center (MCC) Biorepository was established on July 1, 2006 by Dr. Richard Schwab to provide high quality blood, urine, and tumor samples for cancer research. The primary purpose of this study was to examine factors that may be associated with provision of biological specimens to the MCC Biorepository for future genetic cancer studies. A number of demographic, clinical, behavioral, and other factors were selected for assessment, including gender, age, race, ethnicity, severity of cancer, family history of cancer, alcohol and smoking history, and income level. An analytic study of a cross-sectional sample of the MCC Tumor Registry patient base was conducted using a case-control methodology to understand the possible determinants of specimen donation to the Biorepository. In univariate analyses, sex (p<0.0001), age group (p=0.0285), diagnosis (p=0.0106), metastatic status (p<0.0001), and median household income group (p=0.0471) were significantly associated with tissue donation to the Biorepository. Multivariate analyses carried out on each gender-based stratum resulted in two final models describing the relationship between selected correlates and specimen donation. After adjusting for all other variables in the model, men in the 'upper middle' income group were more likely to be Biorepository donors than men in the 'lower/lower middle' income group [OR=2.54, CI__ (1.11, 5.84)], as were the men in the 'upper' income group [OR=2.86, CI__5 (1.03, 7.92)]. Quite differently, women with previous cancer diagnoses were less likely to donate tissue than those with new cancer diagnoses, after adjusting for all other variables [OR=0.59, CI__ (0.38, 0.90)]. These results suggest a relatively high degree of representativeness of the Biorepository sample collection as it stands thus far, and have excellent implications for the generalizability of future Biorepository-based research findings to the MCC cancer patient population.
