This survey was conducted at the July 2003 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
international conference in Washington, D.C. to help NCI and NDC better understand the needs of
academic, government, and industrial researchers for human biospecimens, and results were
provided to the National Biospecimen Network Design Team in their deliberations. The survey
took respondents about 5-10 minutes to complete and could be returned to the Survey Collection
Box at the NCI or Cooperative Human Tissue Network (CHTN) exhibit booths. Respondents were
informed that individual responses would be kept confidential and would not be disclosed to
anyone but the individuals conducting this survey, except as otherwise required by law.
Participation was completely voluntary, and participants were told that they could skip any
question they did not wish to answer. The response frequencies and percentages are shown below
by question.
| Question |
Answers |
Total |
Percent |
| Question 1 - Does your research involve the use of human biologic specimens, or are you planning to use such specimens? |
Yes, my research currently involves the use of human biologic specimens |
188 |
75.2 |
| Yes, I plan on using human biologic specimens in future research |
51 |
20.4 |
| No, my research does not involve the use of human biologic specimens (If no, the survey is completed, thank you for your time!) |
11 |
4.4 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 2 - What type of research are you doing? (check all that apply) |
Basic and developmental research |
175 |
69.7 |
| Translational research |
87 |
34.7 |
| Clinical research |
57 |
22.7 |
| Other (please specify) |
7 |
2.8 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 3 - What area of research are you working in? (check all that apply) |
Cancer prevention |
74 |
29.5 |
| Cancer epidemiology |
34 |
13.5 |
| Cancer etiology |
47 |
18.7 |
| Cancer diagnosis and detection |
80 |
31.9 |
| Cancer immunology |
35 |
13.9 |
| Cancer treatment |
106 |
42.2 |
| Other (please specify) |
11 |
4.4 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 4 - Which of the following cancers does your research include?
(check all that apply) |
Bladder |
20 |
8 |
| Breast |
126 |
50.6 |
| Cervix |
26 |
10.4 |
| Colorectal |
58 |
23.3 |
| Endometrial |
17 |
6.8 |
| Esophagus |
19 |
7.6 |
| Head and Neck |
36 |
14.5 |
| Kidney |
18 |
7.2 |
| Lung |
49 |
19.7 |
| Lymphoma |
34 |
13.7 |
| Ovary |
43 |
17.3 |
| Pancreas |
24 |
9.6 |
| Prostate |
79 |
31.7 |
| Stomach |
21 |
8.4 |
| Other (please specify) |
45 |
18.1 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 5 - Which of the following best describes your research position? |
Principal Investigator |
107 |
44.2 |
| Postdoctoral fellow/Ph.D. student |
100 |
41.3 |
| Technician |
13 |
5.4 |
| Other (please specify) |
22 |
9.1 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 6 - Is your research funded by NIH? |
Yes |
117 |
47.6 |
| No |
129 |
52.4 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 7 - Is your research institution located in the United States? |
Yes |
180 |
73.5 |
| No (If no, where is your institution located?) |
64 |
26.1 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 8 - At what type of institution are you located? |
Academic |
193 |
79.1 |
| Government |
19 |
7.8 |
| Industrial |
32 |
13.1 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 8A - If industrial, which of the following best describes your industrial research institution? |
Start-up or smaller biologically related institution |
8 |
32 |
| Medium biologically related institution |
9 |
36 |
| Large biologically related institution |
8 |
32 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 9 - Is there a hospital associated with your research institution? |
Yes |
183 |
75.3 |
| No |
60 |
24.7 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 9A - If yes, approximately how many beds are in the hospital? |
Fewer than 200 beds |
8 |
5.8 |
| 201-500 beds |
47 |
33.8 |
| More than 500 beds |
84 |
60.4 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 10 - What sources do you use to obtain specimens? (check all that
apply) |
Your institution/hospital |
167 |
69 |
| NCI-supported resources |
35 |
14.5 |
| Commercial sources |
43 |
17.8 |
| Other researchers/collaborators |
81 |
33.5 |
| Other (please specify) |
9 |
3.7 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 11 - Which of the following types of tissue do you typically use or do
you plan to use? (check all that apply) |
Frozen tumor (In OCT? ______) |
157 |
66.8 |
| Frozen uninvolved or normal (In OCT? ______) |
58 |
24.7 |
| Paraffin blocks/slides |
130 |
55.3 |
| Serum |
85 |
36.2 |
| Plasma |
54 |
23 |
| Buffy coat |
30 |
12.8 |
| Urine |
17 |
7.2 |
| Saliva |
10 |
4.3 |
| Other (please specify) |
15 |
6.4 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 12 - How many patient specimens do you typically require per year? |
0 to 25 patient specimens |
61 |
27 |
| 26 to 100 patient specimens |
90 |
39.8 |
| 101 to 500 patient specimens |
54 |
23.9 |
| 501 to 1,000 patient specimens |
11 |
4.9 |
| Greater than 1,000 patient specimens |
10 |
4.4 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 13 - What volume of tissue do you typically require per specimen? |
Less than 0.1 g |
50 |
22.8 |
| 0.1-1.0 g |
120 |
54.8 |
| 1.1-5.0 g |
42 |
19.8 |
| More than 5.0 g |
7 |
3.2 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 14 - Does the tissue you obtain currently meet your needs for: |
|
|
|
| Number of specimens? |
Yes |
123 |
58.9 |
| No |
78 |
37.3 |
| |
|
|
|
| Volume of specimens? |
Yes |
116 |
55.5 |
| No |
61 |
29.2 |
| |
|
|
|
| Quality of specimens? |
Yes |
135 |
64.6 |
| No |
44 |
21.2 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 15 - If a tissue bank outside of your institution provided the following derivatives and/or services, which would you use? (check all that apply) |
DNA |
133 |
61.9 |
| RNA |
121 |
56.3 |
| Protein |
107 |
49.8 |
| Tissue microarrays |
101 |
47 |
| Other (please specify) |
6 |
2.8 |
| |
|
|
|
| For the remaining questions, “associated patient data” refers to demographic, clinical, and outcomes data related to the specimen. Examples of this type of data are listed as responses in Question 17. |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 16 - How often do you require extensive associated patient data (i.e.,
demographic, clinical, outcomes, etc.) related to the specimen? |
Always |
102 |
46.2 |
| Sometimes |
93 |
42.1 |
| Never (SKIP TO QUESTION 18) |
26 |
11.8 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 17 - What associated patient data do you use or plan to use in your research? (check all that apply) |
Demographic |
71 |
35 |
| Family history |
83 |
40.9 |
| Histopathologic (i.e., diagnosis, stage, grade) |
130 |
64 |
| Time to progression |
90 |
44.3 |
| Treatment and response |
137 |
67.5 |
| Recurrence |
93 |
45.8 |
| Survival |
118 |
58.1 |
| Other (please specify) |
1 |
0.5 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 18 - What is the maximum you would pay for well-characterized biospecimen samples with definitive associated patient data? |
$20 to $100 per specimen |
174 |
85.3 |
| $101 to $300 per specimen |
24 |
11.8 |
| Greater than $300 per specimen |
6 |
2.9 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 19 - What research data would you like to have provided along with specimens? (check all that apply) |
Gene expression by DNA microarray (mRNA transcript expression profiles of approx. 30,000
genes) |
148 |
70.1 |
| Marker expression by fluorescence in situ hybridization |
56 |
26.5 |
| Marker expression by immunohistochemistry |
101 |
47.9 |
| Comprehensive protein expression data |
82 |
38.9 |
| Other (please specify) |
4 |
1.9 |
| |
|
|
|
| Question 20 - What is the maximum you would pay for well-characterized biospecimen samples with definitive associated patient data and standardized gene expression by DNA microarray data? |
$100 to $500 per specimen |
144 |
69.6 |
| $501 to $1000 per specimen |
32 |
15.5 |
| Greater than $1000 per specimen |
1 |
0.5 |
| Don't need |
30 |
14.5 |
| |
|
|
|
| Total Surveys Returned: 254 |
|
|
|