[Setting up a department of molecular pathology in oncology in a pathology laboratory (LPCE, CHU de Nice)].

The advent of targeted therapies and personalized medicine in oncology has led in France to the settlement and organisation of a network of hospital molecular genetic platforms under the impetus of the National Cancer Institute (INCa). These platforms are, according to the concerned sites, integrated or not in pathology laboratories. The development of molecular biology methods, the choice of the procedures, the establishment of sample workflow, the quality control and the selection of the genomic alterations to be detected on each platform, have been left to the discretion of the different laboratories.

[Accreditation of the activity of molecular pathology according to ISO 15189: key steps to follow and the main potential pitfalls].

The quick emerging of the several targeted therapies and the concept of personnalized medicine underlie the necessity to develop and to well organize a molecular biology (or molecular pathology) unit of high quality, dedicated to clinical care, in order to look for tissular and cellular theragnosis biomarkers. This new and sudden area of activity for a clinical pathologist is strongly linked to the knowledge of a new medical speciality in health care institutions. Thus, the molecular pathology (or molecular biology made from cellular or tissular samples) can nicely be implemented in a clinical pathology laboratory.

[Setting up indicators in biobanking: why and how?].

The biobanking area is highly complex, and its complexity is increasing along with its growth and demand. Due to the advancements in genetic research, stem cell research and regenerative medicine, biobanking has become ever more important and plays a key role in biomedical research. The robustness and the reproducibility of research results depend greatly on the quality and on the number of the samples used, and thus on the expertise of biobanks having supplied these samples.

Setting up a Prospective Thyroid Biobank for Translational Research: Practical Approach of a Single Institution (2004-2009, Pasteur Hospital, Nice, France).

In the last few years, conditions for setting up a human biobank in France have been upgraded by taking into account (1) the new laws and regulations that integrate the ethical and societal dimension of biobanking and delineate the risks for patients associated with the procurement of human cells and tissues, (2) the increasing request by scientists for human samples with proven biological quality and sophisticated sets of annotations, including information produced through the evergrowing use of molecular biology in pathology, and (3) establishment of procedures concerning the safety of the personnel working with biological products. For this purpose, health authorities and national research institutes in France have provided significant support for the set up of biobanks. The present work was conducted to describe how we set up a biobank targeting diseases of a specific organ (thyroid gland), with the aim of rapidly developing translational research projects.

[The Nice CHU biobank experience to collect patients' informed consent for research context (2004-2009)].

Over the last 10 years, significant financial support from the French National Institute of Cancer (INCa), the Ministry of Health (DGOS), and the Health and Research National Institute (Inserm) helped biobanks--of which tumour banks represent a prominent example of hospital-based infrastructures--to improve their operations, and in some instances to adopt the rules of Biological Ressource Centers as defined by OECD. Nowadays, the use of biological samples of human origin is strictly subordinated to regulations that integrate bioethical principles. However, in spite of the establishment of these regulations, requirement to obtain an authorisation and/or to register the biological collections with the Ministry of Research, many uncertainties persist.