PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Philip S Macklin
AU  - Andrew Hall
AU  - Jessica Lee
AU  - Jane Hair
AU  - Valerie Speirs
AU  - Gareth J Thomas
AU  - Karin A Oien
AU  - Clare Verrill
TI  - Barriers to the release of human tissue for clinical trials research in the UK: a national survey of cellular pathology laboratories on behalf of the National Cancer Research Institute’s Cellular Molecular Pathology (CM-Path) initiative
AID  - 10.1136/jclinpath-2018-205476
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - Journal of Clinical Pathology
PG  - 52--57
VI  - 72
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/72/1/52.short
4100  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/72/1/52.full
SO  - J Clin Pathol2019 Jan 01; 72
AB  - Aim To survey UK cellular pathology departments regarding their attitudes and practices relating to release of human tissue from their diagnostic archives for use in clinical trial research.Methods A 30-item questionnaire was circulated to the National Cancer Research Institute’s Cellular Molecular Pathology initiative and Confederation of Cancer Biobanks mailing lists. Responses were collected over a 10-month period from November 2016 to August 2017.Results 38 departments responded to the survey, the majority of which regularly receive requests for tissue for research purposes. Most requests come from academia and financial support to facilitate tissue release comes from a variety of sources. A range of practices were reported in relation to selection of the most appropriate sample to release, consent checking, costing and governance frameworks.Conclusions This survey demonstrates wide variation in practice across the UK and identifies barriers to release of human tissue for clinical trial research. Until we can overcome these obstacles, patient samples will remain inaccessible to research. Therefore, this study highlights the urgent need for clear and coordinated national guidance on this issue.