The Pathology Core Facility of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center provides pathological analysis and specimen procurement, processing and distribution services to the NU research community. Pathological analysis in the past was mostly limited to routine tissue processing, staining and a limited panel of immunohistochemical stains. Today, pathological analysis in cancer research involves more sophisticated testing, including high-throughput tissue microarray generation, novel immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, or digital imaging analysis for the objective assessment of tissue based assays. Similarly, specimen procurement, processing and distribution are increasingly more sophisticated today. Cancer researchers now require technologies such as DNA/RNA/mRNA extraction, generation of cell monolayers from body fluids, laser capture microdissection, isolation of circulating tumor cells, and other technologies to address cancer-related questions. An exciting development in cancer care in the past few years is the use of targeted therapies and the sub-stratification of patients into more precise treatment groups. Examples include her2/neu testing by FISH or IHC in breast cancer, thymidylate synthase testing in colon cancer, MSI testing in colon cancer, c-kit testing in a variety of tumors, pharmacogenomics and others. Other examples of these "cutting-edge" approaches to cancer research are presented throughout this grant. The PCF is fortunate to be at the forefront of these exciting developments in cancer care in its capacity as the Reference Laboratory for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Continued funding of the PCF infrastructure will allow it to continue to meet the growing and increasingly complex needs of cancer patients and cancer researchers.