Asset Management Service (AMS)
Location: Warren 2, 617-724-1455, pathologysliderequests@partners.orgHours of Operation:
Monday-Friday: 7:30am – 6:30pm
Paraffin blocks are restricted due to regulation and therefore are not released except under special circumstances requiring approval of the Head of Service in conjunction with the Director of Anatomic Pathology.
Clinical Necessity Requests:
Requests for pathology material for Patient Treatment, Second Opinions, and Clinical trial (Cancer Center Protocol Office requests) require the following:• Patient’s Full Name and Date of Birth as it appears in the MGH record
• MGH Medical Record Number
• Patient’s MGH provider’s name
• Date of Service and/or type of surgery – case/specimen # if available
• Name, Address (mailing and/or e-mail), telephone number of physician and institution/testing facility requesting slides
• Full name and address of person and institution/testing facility receiving the slides
• Material/tissue being requested
• Purpose of the material being requested
• Tissue Type Specifics, i.e. original slides, recut stained slides, recut unstained slides, scrolls, punch cores*
• Detailed description of preparation/procedure for the tissue
*Slides/punch cores from archival blocks may be provided, if the specific block has sufficient tissue and fulfilling the request will not exhaust diagnostic tissue within the archival block. An MGH pathologist must determine availability of suitable tissue; and ensure that archival tissues are not exhausted. The reviewing pathologist may grant exceptions in cases where clinical diagnosis is necessary, and this tissue is the only option for further patient care.
Cancer Center Protocol Office (CCPO) Requests:
The Mission of the CCPO is to advance knowledge and rapidly translate discovery into exceptional, personalized cancer care for our patients.Please visit this website for details: https://www.massgeneral.org/cancer/
Research Requests through the Pathology Specimen Locator (PSL) – includes both internal and external requests.
The DF/HCC Pathology Specimen Locator Core facilitates member access to tissue used in research. The PSL/BPC offers key services that enable investigators with appropriate IRB approval to access tissues with fewer barriers from hospitals across the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center system, achieved through a web-based, integrated network of distributed, searchable databases that contain de-identified, coded, pathologic information on post-diagnostic, excess human materials (including frozen or paraffin-embedded tissues).The MGH Department of Pathology requires that all requests for tissue from MGH for research be submitted in the Harvard Medical Area Core Management System through the Pathology Specimen Locator (PSL) of the Brigham Pathology Cores (BPC). MGH can no longer accept requests directly from investigators, unless the clinical trial is based at MGH or the primary investigator is collaborating directly with an MGH pathologist. Partnering with PSL/BPC allows MGH to better manage requests so that we can offer you improved turnaround time and more streamlined billing to meet your research needs.
Proceed to the PSL/BPC website for further information including services, pricing, contact information and instructions on how to set up an account. Completion of Instructions for Requesting MGH Patient Tissue is required.
For FORM and detailed instructions visit the DF/HCC PSL website. Punch cores from archival blocks may be provided, if the specific block has sufficient tissue and fulfilling the request will not exhaust diagnostic tissue within the archival block. An MGH pathologist must determine availability of suitable tissue and ensure that archival tissues are not exhausted.
