First-hand report from Children’s Oncology Group Neuroblastoma Pathology Reference Laboratory

Abstract

The Children’s Oncology Group Neuroblastoma Pathology Reference Laboratory is a part of the Neuroblastoma Biology Study and plays a critical role in the front–end central pathology review of cases at the time of study enrollment for patient stratification and protocol assignment. The Laboratory has been participating in establishing and running a biorepository that is supported by grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and providing researchers with high-quality biology samples for years. To promote the central pathology review system by expert pediatric pathologists, it is very important to (1) clearly define the role of the central pathology review of study cases with appropriate funding in the system of the Japanese Children’s Cancer Group and (2) compensate expert pathologists with an appropriate consultation fee for their review of non-study cases.