The Breast Tissue Registry resource provides access to formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded primary breast cancer tissue with associated clinical and follow-up data for research studies, particularly those studies focused on translating basic research findings into clinical application.

This resource database contains pathological and clinical information linked to a large collection of breast tissue specimens that is available for research.

The St. Louis Breast Tissue Registry has access to tissue and data from retrospective patients from five local hospitals. Participating hospitals include Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Barnes Hospital, Jewish Hospital, St. John’s Mercy Hospital, St. Anthony’s Medical Center and St. Luke’s Hospital.

The registry presently has more than 6,000 cases, which include a cross-section of breast cancer cases (i.e., pre-malignant, carcinoma in situ {Stage 0}, and invasive breast cancer [Stages I-IV]).

Specimens are available either as full tissue sections or as tissue microarrays (TMAs). All specimens are evaluated for pathologic diagnosis by breast pathologists using standard diagnostic criteria.

The St. Louis Breast Tissue Registry was created in 1993 as part of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cooperative Breast Cancer Tissue Resource (CBCTR). Washington University was one of the four participating medical centers with the other three being Fox Chase Cancer Center (Philadelphia, Pa.), University of Miami (Miami, Fla.) and Kaiser Permanente Northwest (Portland, Ore.).

This resource is adding cases from the participating hospitals; however, it does not take cases by patient or physician referral.