The broad scientific objective of the IU Simon Cancer Center (IUSCC) is to conduct high-quality, cutting-edge basic and clinical research for improved understanding and advancement in the treatment of human malignancies. The ability to successfully investigate the biological basis of cancers, translate basic research to the clinical setting and better understand the relevance of observed clinical or population-based phenomena through laboratory-based research is greatly facilitated by the availability of an extensive repository of tissue samples, with accompanying pathologic and clinical data, procured from patients with malignancies and normal controls.

To serve the needs of the cancer center in achieving this end, the IUSCC Solid Tissue Bank began providing solid tumors in 1996. In 2008, the Hematologic Malignancies Tissue Bank was established to provide hematological malignancies.

Since that time, the IUSCC Solid Tissue Bank has continued to provide tissue for the discovery of new drug targets and biomarkers, for the development of cancer cell lines and for DNA and RNA research. Over the past 10 years, IUSCC has provided hundreds of tumor samples to many leading IU scientists and affiliates.

Specimens with confirmed histology and diagnosis are available from surgery within 90 minutes post-excision from a large variety of cancers. Normal adjacent tissue, metastatic tissue and archival blocks are available.

The Hematologic Malignancies Tissue Bank serves as a tissue procurement resource for the centralized banking of blood, bone marrow, leukapheresis and buccal swab specimens procured from patients with hematologic malignancies and normal controls. All malignant samples are accompanied by clinical and pathological data.

Beyond simply serving as a repository of tissue, the IUSCC Tissue Bank is a shared resource of samples that is made available to researchers for the examination of relevant cellular and molecular properties and is used in preclinical drug development assays.