Development of a Human Biorepository Information System at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center

Modern molecular-based studies increasingly require human biological samples. To systematically support data management for the University of Kentucky (UK) Markey Cancer Center´s (MCC) Biospecimen Core Tissue Bank (BCTB), the UK-Biorepository Information System (BIS) was designed and implemented. The BCTB was funded by the Kentucky Lung Cancer Program, which emphasizes lung tissues, matched serum, plasma, white blood cells, and buffy- coats collected from donors seen in the MCC MultidiscipUnary Lung Cancer Clinic and other selected clinics. Essential sub-modules-the user, the project, the storage, the annotation, the distribution, and the search management-were included in the UK- BIS. As of July 2006, a total of 11,940 samples from 894 patients have been recorded and housed at the Kentucky Cancer Registry server for its secure and consistent system administration.