S E A S O N S   G R E E T I N G S

Welcome to Issue 11 of the Biological Studies Newsletter. Following discussion by the Biological Studies Committee, it has been agreed that the Newsletter will now be issued quarterly and its length will be variable depending on material submitted.

Data Centre

We are pleased to welcome to Gavin Whyman, the new Biological Studies Coordinator at the Data Centre. Gavin can be contacted by email at gjw11@le.ac.uk.

UKCCSG Scientific Meeting, 2-3 December

A good sized, if select, group 60 in total enjoyed a high quality meeting with good presentations from seasoned performers and tyros! The atmosphere was conducive to good and informed discussion creating a stimulating meeting. I am delighted to say that there is emerging talent interested in the biology of childhood cancer, which bodes well for the future.

Two prizes were awarded - The Laura Crane prize for the best oral presentation by a trainee and the McElwain prize for the best poster.

The competition for the Laura Crane Prize was stiff due to the quality of the science and also of the presentations. It was therefore very difficult to choose a single ‘winner’. However, Helen Rees who has just completed her PhD studies, was finally awarded the prize.

The McElwain prize went to Beth Coyle, Research Fellow with the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham for her poster on RASSF1A as a potential therapeutic target for medulloblastoma.

Next years Scientific Meeting will be held in conjunction with the national meeting organised by the NCRI, which will be held in Birmingham in September 2005.

Tissue Registration Update

We have had a fantastic year!! So much so we have broken the bank and have gone back to CR UK to obtain further funding!! We welcome the massive efforts of Janet Powell in Cardiff - they top the league this year.

Total number of registered samples from each centre:-

Centre	2001	2002	2003	2004
Belfast	0	38	0	4
Birmingham	74	88	72	61
Bristol	38	13	10	52
Cambridge	10	26	18	25
Cardiff	0	0	0	178
Dublin	32	30	25	23
Glasgow	0	0	7	16
Great Ormond Street	2	21	35	30
Leeds	10	10	114	10
Liverpool	0	40	42	79
Manchester	0	0	1	24
Newcastle	16	32	0	124
Nottingham	0	0	6	29
Royal Marsden	0	16	38	47
Sheffield	4	15	2	47
Southampton	6	15	17	11
Totals	192	344	387	760

Ethical approval for the use of Archival tumour tissue for research.

We have MREC approval for the use of archival tumour samples for research. 12 centres have now obtained LREC approval but we are still waiting for 6 centres to do so -

Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Great Ormond Street and Oxford

Perhaps the centres that have yet to get LREC approval could make this a New Years Resolution??

Tumour Bank Protocol

The tumour Bank Protocol Revision has now been completed and submitted to MREC. We have updated the protocol and emphasised the link with the Childhood Leukaemia Working Party and the LRF cell bank. The system for collecting samples and for the research governance determining the use of the stored samples should become much smoother. We also hope that a single consent form for the collection and storage of both tumour and leukaemia samples and a single process for the scientific evaluation of any research project will increase the banking of cancer samples and facilitate research.

IT Biology Post

For some time we have been aware of the inadequacy of the information technology underpinning the tumour bank which has hindered research in a number of ways. Initial applications to the bank were hard to process as it took time to determine if we had sufficient samples to answer the question. Once the project has been approved identification and release of samples is slow. These factors amongst others should be helped by the IT development. This post has now been advertised with a closing date of 16 th December. Interviews will be held early in the New Year.

UKCCSG Neuroblastoma Biology Meeting

The Inaugural Meeting of the UKCCSG Neuroblastoma Biology Group will take place on Tuesday, 8 th February 2005 in Room 2.21, The Research Beehive, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. This will be a one-day meeting with a mixture of talks and poster presentations outlining the research in Neuroblastoma that is performed around the UK.

For a registration form and further information on this meeting, please contact Gillian Walker, secretary to Dr Debbie Tweddle – email Gillian.walker@newcastle.ac.uk .

Diary Dates 2005

26 ^th January - Division of Therapeutics Meeting, CR UK, Albany House
22 ^nd February – Biological Studies Committee meeting, Cambridge Terrace
13 ^th April – Biological Studies Conference Call – details to be confirmed
15 ^th June – Biological Studies Committee meeting followed by Division of Therapeutics Meeting, 44 Lincoln’s Inn Field
16 ^th August – Biological Studies Committee conference call – details to be confirmed
11 ^th October – Biological Studies Committee meeting, Cambridge Terrace
14 ^th December – Biological Studies Committee conference call – details to be confirmed

ON BEHALF OF THE BIOLGICAL STUDIES COMMITTEE I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES AND TUMOUR BANKING AND WISH YOU ALL A LOVELY CHRISTMAS TIME AND ALL THE BEST FOR THE NEW YEAR!

Richard Grundy

NEXT EDITION ... The next update will be sent out in March. If you have any items that you would like to include, please send them to Sue Thornton at st22@le.ac.uk by 22 nd March 2005. Please note that there is also a copy of the newsletter on the UKCCSG website (under the Biological Studies icon) – www.ukccsg.org

Chair Biological Studies Committee Dr Richard Grundy Birmingham Children’s Hospital Tel: 0121 333 8243 Fax: 0121 333 8241 e-mail: richard.grundy@nottingham.ac.uk

Biological Studies Coordinator Gavin Whyman UKCCSG Data Centre, Leicester Tel: 0116 249 4471 Fax: 0116 254 9504 e-mail: gjw11@le.ac.uk

Biological Studies Admin Sue Thornton UKCCSG Data Centre, Leicester Tel: 0116 249 4463 Fax: 0115 254 9504 e-mail: st22@le.ac.uk