Background

The NCRI established two prostate cancer collaboratives (The South of England Prostate Cancer Collaborative headed by Prof. Cooper and the ProMPT Collaborative headed by Prof. Neal) in 2001 because it was clear that prostate cancer research in the UK was grossly under funded and required strengthening, whilst infrastructure for carrying out research in prostate cancer was practically non-existent.  A critical component of the provision of infrastructure has been the setting up of collections of clinical samples that, through collaboration and review, may be available for individual research projects.  To optimize this process we have implemented a publicly accessible database to be used to identify sample sets, their clinical characteristics, and the person who should be contacted to discuss their potential use in other projects.

Method

The database is implemented in mySQL with a PHP/Javascript web based front end hosted on a Linux server.  Extensive testing was performed, both within the collaboratives and externally.

Results

The “UK Prostate Cancer Sample Collection Database” was released on the internet at the end of September 2010 containing over 10 collections and 75000 patients (http://ukpcscd.icr.ac.uk).  For each collection a detailed description is provided along with a summary of the samples held and the clinical data associated with these samples. References and a list of markers examined are displayed to show how these collections have already been used.  For those interested in obtaining further information, or requesting access to a particular collection, links and a pro forma with contacts are provided.  For the larger collections, scripts have been developed so that data can be updated on a weekly basis.

Conclusion

This database is a valuable component in the infrastructure that ensures maximum quantity and quality of prostate cancer research in the UK.