Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine

Letter to the Editor

Comments on "Legal and Ethical Consideration in the Use of Human Biological Material" by Youngjoon Ryu et al. in 'The Korean Journal of Pathology, 2010; 44: 111-6'.: Kyu Won Jung, Soong Deok Lee; Korean J Pathol. 2010;44(4):343-345.; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4132/KoreanJPathol.2010.44.4.343

Original Articles

The Status of Pathology Specimen Bank in Other Countries.: Han Ik Bae, Ghil Suk Yoon; Korean J Pathol. 2005;39(6):379-383.

Abstract PDF: Pathology specimen has been collected for purposes of education and research, particularly with respect to basic, developmental and translational studies in many areas of cancer research including molecular biology, immunology, and genetics. Even though no policy or ethical guideline drafted to regulate research tissue bank in Korea, advanced countries has been concerned ethical issues in the collections, storages, specimen transports and informatics for pathology specimen bank. Informed consent and confidentiality for protection of personal data records, which can be directly or indirectly associated with linked data from the donors' point of view, are the key to banking all over the world. The institutional review board (IRB) is important to ensure the scientific and ethical quality of pathologic specimen research. Increasing molecular genetic testing is also resulting in an increased demand of quality control for high quality nucleic acids. Most recently, the use of stored human tissue for education and research has become an object of increased ethical concern in Korea. Korean Association of Pathologists (KAP) has in urgent need of the policies and a standardized operating procedure, regulating a good collection practice of pathology specimen bank.

Bioethical Review on the Use of Human Tissue.: In Hoe Ku; Korean J Pathol. 2005;39(6):365-371.

Abstract PDF: Hospitals and medical research institutions have vast holdings of tissues stored in tissue banks. Tissue can end up in a tissue bank for many different reasons. Tissue samples are taken as part of normal diagnostic procedures, and the remaining samples after analysis may be stored for secondary analysis to confirm the diagnosis, for quality control or for research purposes. If the tissues have been stored properly, in principle, it is possible to perform almost all the genetic tests. This opens up possibilities for an expanded use of such tissues in medical research, and therefore tissue banks have become scientifically and economically valuable resources. New genetic testing technologies with their scientific and economic potential are raising ethical concerns about the use of older, stored tissue samples, in particular those that were obtained for one purpose and can now be used for other purposes. Much of these tissues was obtained without consent or with a consent that does not cover genetic testing. There are no general ethical guidelines that can decide whether a specific research project is justifiable. In some cases, proxy consent or an analysis of ownership may be useful. However, use of tissue samples, in most cases, will depend on whether the project is worthwhile and ethically acceptable according to today's standards.

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