Cancer Tissue and Pathology

The shared resource provides two main resources to support basic, clinical and translational research: high-quality human cancer tissues and histopathologic services.

The tissue biobank works with all major disease groups at Winship Cancer Institute to collect, store and distribute tumor and normal control tissues for research. Biospecimens are collected under a central IRB-approved biobank protocol or other disease-specific or specialized protocols. Biospecimens are procured as frozen, fresh, fixed, embedded or other specialized preparation. Tissues and biospecimens are stored or distributed to Winship investigators with IRB-approved protocols to further clinical, translational, basic and epidemiologic research. Quality assurance of specimens is provided by members of the Department of Pathology.

The lab is capable of processing high volumes of tissue samples derived from remnant surgical tissue samples and works in close collaboration with members of each of the main and developing scientific programs of the Winship. The tissue biobank consists of an IRB-approved Human Tissue Procurement Service (HTPS), located within Emory University Hospital and Winship Cancer Institute, with affiliated banking sites at Grady Memorial and Emory University Midtown Hospital.

Conveniently located in Winship's Shared Resource Hub on the 3rd floor of The Emory Clinic Building B, the Cancer Tissue Pathology Lab offers comprehensive histopathologic services ranging from tissue embedding and cutting to multiplex IHC. The laboratory can provide for nearly all tissue-based needs of investigators.

It is equipped with the following:

• Automated tissue processor
• Embedding station
• Three microtomes and water baths
• Cryostat
• Automated slide labeler
• Automated stainer and coverslipper
• Automated single and multiplex immunohistochemical stainer
• Manual tissue microarrayer
• Semi-automated microarrayer

Our lab facility is located in the Winship Shared Resources Hub on the 3rd floor of The Emory Clinic Building B.

For digital pathology, the lab provides:

• Olympus Nanozoomer whole-slide scanner
• Vectra Polaris multispectral imaging system

Additional equipment includes:

• A fume hood for manual histologic staining of cryostat sections or benchtop IHC staining.
• A two-headed microscope with digital camera and imaging software for image capturing.

The National Cancer Institute requires that publications acknowledge the Winship Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG), and it is tracking compliance. If a Winship Cancer Institute CCSG-supported Shared Resource provided data, designed the study, performed analyses, provided results used in your publication, and/or provided any systems or services that were used for the work that resulted in your publication, please include the following statement in the acknowledgment section of your publication(s):

Research reported in this publication was supported in part by the Cancer Tissue and Pathology Shared Resource of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and NIH/NCI under award number P30CA138292. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.