A national melanoma tissue bank

The need for a national melanoma tissue bank – literally a storage facility for tissue - was identified at the Melanoma Summit 2008. Since then, Professor Mike Eccles of the University of Otago has clarified its purpose and is exploring how multi-centre tissue banking can be established in New Zealand.

Whereas cancer tissue that is removed surgically and is surplus to diagnostic requirements is usually disposed of, it can be processed and stored in a tissue bank. Processing of surplus tissue can include making paraffin blocks, freezing, making products such as DNA or cell lines, etc.

Molecular studies can now unlock the secrets of cancer – especially what went wrong at the start. Keeping some of the tissue will hold onto these clues.

The clues often can be found in the proteins, genes and the cell biology of the tissue. As every melanoma is different from every other, fitting the pieces into a complex molecular puzzle will eventually answer the question of why melanoma starts. Comparing information between different melanoma tissue samples is a very key part of this process. Having this information hopefully will bring us closer to designing highly specific therapies that will be much more effective than current therapies.

According to Professor Eccles, tissue banking will need to be coordinated, with appropriate linked databases. In this regard he has been exploring the possibility of linking in with an Australian electronic information and data sharing platform. This is looking quite promising in terms of linking various sites holding clinical and scientific data. It also would provide a bridge to Australian sites holding the same kind of data.