title: Role of biobanking in urology: a review.
abstract: In the current era of individualized medicine, a biorepository of human samples is essential to support clinical and translational research. There have been limited efforts in this arena within the field of urology, as cost, logistical and ethical issues represent significant deterrents to biobanking. The Johns Hopkins Brady Urological Institute Biorepository was founded in 1994 as a resource to facilitate discovery. Since its inception, the biorepository has enabled numerous research endeavours including pivotal trials leading to the regulatory approval of four diagnostic tests for prostate cancer. In the present review, we discuss the current state of biobanking within urology, outline the specific ethical and financial challenges to biobanking as well as solutions, and describe the operations of a successful urological biorepository.
authors.affiliation: James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Heather J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chalfin
authors.affiliation: James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fabian
authors.affiliation: James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mangold
authors.affiliation: James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Yeater
authors.affiliation: James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Pienta
authors.affiliation: James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Alan W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Partin
mesh_terms: D018070:Biological Specimen Banks / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D014572:Urology
keywords: biobank; biorepository; biospecimen; cost; repository; translational research