For medical research and development, clinical samples are emerging to play important roles in every phase throughout the entire process. Moreover, clinical sample is one of the most valuable resources for assessing interpatient heterogeneity to achieve precision and personalized medicine. Thus, analysis on clinical samples become more and more critical for clinical practice as well as R&D. Kyoto university has built up KBBM, Inc. teaming up with 7 private companies to ensure ethics and quality in collection, transfer and preservation of clinical samples. These supports by KBBM are going to be applied to all the clinical samples and medical information associated with them, including healthy controls, collected through the Clinical Bioresource Center in Kyoto university hospital. Accordingly, medical research and development in Kyoto university will be further promoted by taking advantages of easily accessible and quality controlled clinical samples and their data.
The researchers in our department have developed and improved methods for the preparation, culture and application of cancer cells as well as normal cells from patient samples. We are currently working on establishing panels of the cultured cancer cells from different patient samples. By integrating information including ex vivo chemo/radio-sensitivity assay, in vivo assay, clinical course, genome sequencing, OMICS data, and so on, we aim to develop novel targets of therapy, and biomarkers for selecting suitable therapeutics for each patient. We keep promoting innovation in the technology of culturing patient-originated cells to truly realize personalized medicine.