CREST biorepository for
translational studies on malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer and other
respiratory tract diseases: Informatics infrastructure and standardized
annotation.
Advances in molecular epidemiology and translational research have led to the
need for biospecimen collection. The Cancer of the Respiratory Tract (CREST)
biorepository is concerned with pleural malignant mesothelioma (MM) and lung
cancer (LC). The biorepository staff has collected demographic and
epidemiological data directly from consenting subjects using a structured
questionnaire, in agreement with The Public Population Project in Genomics
(P(3)G). Clinical and follow-up data were collected. Sample data were also
recorded. The architecture is based on a database designed with Microsoft Access.
Data standardization was carried out to conform with established conventions or
procedures. As from January 31, 2011, the overall number of recruited subjects
was 1,857 (454 LC, 245 MM, 130 other cancers and 1,028 controls). Due to its
infrastructure, CREST was able to join international projects, sharing samples
and/or data with other research groups in the field. The data management system
allows CREST to be involved, through a minimum data set, in the national project
for the construction of the Italian network of Oncologic BioBanks (RIBBO), and in
the infrastructure of a pan-European biobank network (BBMRI). The CREST
biorepository is a valuable tool for translational studies on respiratory tract
diseases, because of its simple and efficient infrastructure