Clinical Services
Program
Contact
for Information and Services:
Dr.
Michael W. Baseler, Manager
SAIC Frederick, Inc.
301-846-5217 FAX:
301-846-5224
E-mail: mbaseler@ncifcrf.gov
Mission:
The primary mission
of the CSP is to perform sequential studies of immune function in patients
with cancer, AIDS, chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) or chronic fatigue
syndrome (CFS) during treatment with biological response modifiers or
other potential anticancer or antiviral agents. Alterations in immune
function are correlated with the patient's clinical response to treatment,
and are used to design second-generation clinical studies and guide basic
research into the agent's mechanisms of action.
Expertise: The Clinical Services Program (CSP) was established in late
1981 to provide dedicated laboratory facilities to the Biological Response
Modifiers Program, National Cancer Institute. During the next decade,
the CSP was expanded to provide a full range of dedicated laboratory and
clinical facilities to the Medicine Branch, HIV Adult Malignancy Branch,
and Surgery Branch, Division of Clinical Sciences, the Environmental Epidemiology
Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, the Biological Resources
Branch, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, the Laboratories of
Immunoregulation, Clinical Investigations and Host Defenses and the Division
of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
The organization of the CSP has evolved and expanded over the last 19
years, so that each laboratory/administrative component is structured
to adapt to specific technical work scope requirements in support of the
various government programs. A highly trained scientific staff, a centralized
administrative and computer programming support staff, and state-of-the
art laboratories and clinical facilities allow for comprehensive immunological
monitoring and research programs in support of diverse clinical trials.
The CSP comprises 13 individual laboratories and a centralized administrative
group, with each laboratory responsible for defined areas of the workscope.
Technical staff have been cross-trained in a wide variety of immunological
procedures, and equipment resources are shared, where appropriate, resulting
in the most efficient use of labor and resources. The CSP has gained a
reputation as a benchmark laboratory for this type of work.
Established Technologies:
- Two, three,
and four-color flow cytometric phenotypic analysis of peripheral blood,
mononuclear cells and cell lines.
- Two and three-color
cell sorting using flow cytometry.
- Lymphokine and cytokine
testing.
- Blast transformation
assays.
- Cytotoxic assays.
- Viral burden assays
(quantitative PCR, bDNA, NASBA, p24 antigen and RT PCR).
- Quantitation of stem
cells from peripheral blood and bone marrow samples.
- Production of activated
NK and T cells ex vivo for reinfusion into patients.
- Complete assessments
of granulocyte and monocyte function.
New Technologies
Under Development:
- ELISPOT
- DNA Microarray technologies
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