Background: Well-annotated, high-quality biorepositories provide a valuable platform to support translational research. However, most biorepositories have poor representation of minority groups, limiting the ability to address health disparities. Methods: We describe the establishment of the Florida Pancreas Collaborative (FPC), the first state-wide prospective cohort study and biorepository designed to address the higher burden of pancreatic cancer (PaCa) in African Americans (AA) compared to Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) and Hispanic/Latinx (H/L). We provide an overview of stakeholders; study eligibility and design; recruitment strategies; standard operating procedures to collect, process, store, and transfer biospecimens, medical images, and data; our cloud-based data management platform; and progress regarding recruitment and biobanking. Results: The FPC consists of multidisciplinary teams from fifteen Florida medical institutions. From March 2019 through August 2020, 350 patients were assessed for eligibility, 323 met inclusion/exclusion criteria, and 305 (94%) enrolled, including 228 NHW, 30 AA, and 47 H/L, with 94%, 100%, and 94% participation rates, respectively. A high percentage of participants have donated blood (87%), pancreatic tumor tissue (41%), computed tomography scans (76%), and questionnaires (62%). Conclusions: This biorepository addresses a critical gap in PaCa research and has potential to advance translational studies intended to minimize disparities and reduce PaCa-related morbidity and mortality.

Pancreatic cancer (PaCa) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. There is an unmet need to develop strategies to detect PaCa at an early, operable stage and prevent its progression. Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) are cystic PaCa precursors that comprise nearly 50% of pancreatic cysts detected incidentally via cross-sectional imaging. Since IPMNs can progress from low- and moderate-grade dysplasia to high-grade dysplasia and invasion, the study of these lesions offers a prime opportunity to develop early detection and prevention strategies. Organoids are an ideal preclinical platform to study IPMNs, and the objective of the current investigation was to establish a living biobank of patient-derived organoids (PDO) from IPMNs. IPMN tumors and adjacent normal pancreatic tissues were successfully harvested from 15 patients with IPMNs undergoing pancreatic surgical resection at Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (Tampa, FL) between May of 2017 and March of 2019. Organoid cultures were also generated from cryopreserved tissues. Organoid count and size were determined over time by both Image-Pro Premier 3D Version 9.1 digital platform and Matlab application of a Circular Hough Transform algorithm, and histologic and genomic characterization of a subset of the organoids was performed using immunohistochemistry and targeted sequencing, respectively. The success rates for organoid generation from IPMN tumor and adjacent normal pancreatic tissues were 81% and 87%, respectively. IPMN organoids derived from different epithelial subtypes showed different morphologies in vitro , and organoids recapitulated histologic and genomic characteristics of the parental IPMN tumor. In summary, this pre-clinical model has the potential to provide new opportunities to unveil mechanisms of IPMN progression to invasion and to shed insight into novel biomarkers for early detection and targets for chemoprevention.

Background: Well-annotated, high-quality biorepositories provide a valuable platform to support translational research and discovery. However, most biorepositories have poor representation of minority groups, limiting the ability to address cancer health disparities and improve disease outcomes. This report describes the establishment of the Florida Pancreas Collaborative (FPC), the first state-wide prospective longitudinal cohort study and biorepository specifically designed to address the higher burden of pancreatic cancer (PaCa) in African Americans (AA) compared to Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) and Hispanic/Latinx (H/L). Methods: We describe rationale for establishing the FPC and provide an overview of key stakeholders; study eligibility and design; ascertainment and recruitment strategies; and standard operating procedures (SOPs) developed to collect, process, store, and transfer biospecimens, medical images, and data. We also describe the customized cloud-based, secure data management platform built to facilitate recruitment, track study-related workflow, house data, and perform queries. We also present progress to date regarding recruitment and biobanking. Results: The FPC consists of multidisciplinary teams from fifteen Florida medical institutions. From March 2019 through August 2020, 350 patients were assessed for study eligibility, 323 met inclusion/exclusion criteria, and 305 (94%) enrolled, including 228 NHW, 30 AA, and 47 H/L, with 94%, 100%, and 94% participation rates, respectively. A high percentage of participants have donated blood (87%), pancreatic tumor tissue (41%), computed tomography scans (76%), and baseline questionnaire data (62%). Conclusions: This biorepository addresses a critical gap in PaCa research with the potential to advance basic, clinical, population-based, and translational studies intended to minimize disparities, increase quality of life, and reduce PaCa-related morbidity and mortality. Impact: This multi-institutional infrastructure can serve as a prototype for development of similar resources across the country and disease sites.