In July 2006, the Florida legislature created Statute 381.853 to establish the Florida Center for Brain Tumor Research in a coordinated effort among the state’s public and private universities and hospitals and the biomedical industry to discover brain tumor cures and develop brain tumor treatment modalities.
The FCBTR has been a collaborative, statewide resource of banked cancerous and non- cancerous brain tumor specimens, matched samples of DNA, plasma, serum and cerebrospinal fluid, and clinical and demographic information obtained from patients who sign Informed Consent Forms at a number of different healthcare institutions. Professional Research Coordinators, Tissue Acquisition Coordinators or Nurses ask patients if they are interested in participation in this Institutional Research Board approved biorepository and registry to provide valuable specimens and data for future research. The bank distributes materials to researchers in Florida and beyond who are investigating improved treatments and cures for brain tumors.
In addition to the bank, FCBTR has awarded pilot funding to researchers throughout the state which has resulted in the development of novel therapies which are being tested in clinical trials, and has resulted in significant extramural funding and meaningful collaborations between public and private institutions throughout the state of Florida.
Why is this Legislative Appropriation So Vitally Important?
For Starters,
brain tumor samples have been distributed to researchers and have been instrumental in the success of multiple research endeavors and discoveries.
Secondly,
it also channels dollars to Florida’s brain tumor researchers for innovative projects that provide pilot data for larger federal and state grant funding into the state of Florida.
Thirdly,
it uses an unbiased merit-based process to review and select for funding, the best science in the state.
Finally,
it helps Florida researchers compete more successfully for external funding. Approximately forty percent of award winners have received NIH funding based on the data obtained in their FCBTR projects.
Each year that the Florida Legislature funds the Florida Center for Brain Tumor Research is another year that the FCBTR is able to provide tissues and support for ground-breaking scientific research. The benefits to the state grow exponentially, particularly by attracting the world’s best researchers to Florida.
The Relevance and Unique Value of the FCBTR Bank and Registry
FCBTR has compared the types of tumors collected in Florida to tumor types collected by the Central Brain Tumor Registry (CBTRUS) of the United States, a not-for-profit corporation which gathers and disseminates epidemiologic data on primary brain. Tumor Samples collected in The State of Florida very closely mirror those reported for the rest of the United States in the Central Brain Tumor Registry, making the FCBTR bank and registry an extremely unique, relevant and valuable collection. The future of brain tumor therapy involves the collection of a large number of brain tumor samples, as well as multidisciplinary analysis and data-sharing. The State of Florida’s establishment of a world-class Brain Tumor Tissue Repository and Registry was designed to yield internationally competitive research and to maximize the use of each specimen and facilitate collaboration and discovery for brain tumor researchers in the state.