Highlight

POITIERS HOSPITAL 2005, April 15   A tumorotheque, what is the purpose it serves?     The Poitiers CHU stores in a cool place over 1000 tumor samples removed from patients. As head of the pathological anatomy and cytology ward, Pierre Levillain allowed us to enter the tumorotheque. We are visiting an ordinary room at the second basement level of Poitiers Hospital. Two vertical freezers occupy the brunt of the space. One of them is empty, while the other contains a thousand tumors. Behind the banality of the appearances, we are in fact at the heart of the medical establishment’s tumorotheque. It is closely guarded. Two alarms are linked up with the hospital’s security system; if the temperature climbs abnormally, agents are called upon to intervene. Preserved at –80 degrees, the samples are in “danger” at around –60. If nobody restores the right temperature within a reasonable lapse of time (a few dozen minutes), bottles of carbonic acid may come to the rescue. But what is the precious cargo in the freezers that necessitates such quickly materializing mobilization? Tissue samples of tumors, to be sure, yet there is more to it than that. “Quite often, with patient consent, we likewise freeze healthy tissues, which may be of significance when compared with tumors”, adds Professor Levillain, who is the head of the pathological anatomy and cytology ward. A veritable “collection of frozen tumors” is now considered indispensable, to say the least… Freezing differs from other means of preservation insofar as it may keep intact the properties of the tissues, most notably proteins and nucleic acids. “Refined diagnoses” “We have been freezing tissues for quite a while. The one difference today is that the freezing of fragments is systematic”, adds Professor Levillain. Such automaticity allows not only for “refined diagnoses” and the treatments best adapted to patients, but also facilitates molecular biology studies on these samples, with diagnostic and therapeutic research posited as a goal. The interest of the Poitiers Hospital tumorotheque has consequently grown obvious in the eyes of doctors, surgeons and other researchers, and more particularly in the framework of its having been given a brand name in July 2004 by the management of hospitalization and organization of medical care (the French DHOS). Having achieved this milestone, the Poitiers hospital center has reinforced its credibility in the overall scope of the Canceropole Grand-Ouest and thereby paved the way for full-scale collaboration with its analogous neighbors in Rennes, Nantes, Angers, Tours, Brest and Le Mans. The head of the pathological anatomy and cytology ward herein concludes: “We already belong to the tumorotheque network of the Grand-Ouest. Two software information specialists are working now in Rennes and shall soon be in Poitiers so as set up a virtual tumorotheque, that is to say a veritable anonymous data bank to be consulted by cancerology research teams subsequent to the agreement of the medico-scientific committee striving to ensure full respect of the rules of bio-ethics”. http://www.chu-poitiers.fr The Biopole en masse at Eurobio 2008 Read ...   Water information days (September 23 – September 25) Read ...   The rose and its genetic transformation Read ...   Christian Huyghe aims for “excellence” read...   Creating “medical branches” read...   A neuro-cardio-vascular pole is taking root read...   Valagro on the horticulture market read...   ERM, the winning spin-off read...   GMOs under debate in Poitiers read...   Isabelle Cameleyre, new representative read...   Cystic fibrosis: The molecule of hope read...   Irfaq, a manufacturer of innovations read...   CHU: State-of-the-art quality read...   Soil organic matter under examination read...   Parexel: The Cap provides its support read...   Philippe Michonneau: “The Biopole, fertile soil” read...   Painless monitoring of hepatitis read...   The Biopole structured as an association read...   Futuramat steps up the pace read...   Technova, or life in 3D read...   B Braun burnishes its image read...   Proteomics platform: The CHU strides ahead read...   The three missions of the University Botanical Garden read...   Clinsight in the big leagues read...   Natural energies for an autonomous building read...   Aster-Cephac turns into SGS Cephac read...   The previously unseen heart read...   BIOalternatives diversifies its markets read...   Two Poitiers-based projects awarded read...   IUT pores over biofuels read...   Poitiers, the biotechnology capital read...   PAREXEL wagers on the human factor read...   Saunier and associates wish to diversify read...   Biocydex and BioXtract move forward hand in hand read...   The grass of champions read...   Ianesco steadfastly believes in its future read...   A tumorotheque, what is the purpose it serves? read...   TechnAvOx has turned the corner read...   Larime is aiming for 40 beds in Poitiers read...   Poitiers is out to promote its research read...   A true Biopole milestone read...   A regional cancerology pole in the pipeline for 2007 read...   Nobel prize winners in Poitiers read...   A platform offering numerous advantages read...   @rtMolecule fashions in its own way read...   It’s plastic, it’s fantastic read...   The Poitiers hospital (CHU) stakes its claim read...   BIOalternatives exports its know-how read...   The physiological and computer science engineering program turns 30 read...   The Biopole takes center stage at Investiga read...           Legal mentions