RECOVERY: Tissue Purchase Order Contract Acquisition for NCI's The Cancer Genome Atlas Program

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items using simplified acquisition procedures and prepared in accordance with format in FAR 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. The full text of Request for Quotation (RFQ) RFQ-NCI-10007-AS may be accessed through the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Office of Acquisitions homepage by using the following internet address - http://rcb.cancer.gov/rcb-internet/index.jsp. (Please click on Current Request for Proposals to access). Only electronic copies of the solicitation are available. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the above internet site for the solicitation and any amendments. POTENTIAL OFFERORS WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DOWNLOADING THEIR OWN COPY OF THE SOLICITATION AND AMENDMENTS. No collect calls will be accepted. This project is funded thorough the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and is subject to the reporting requirements of the act. It is anticipated this solicitation will result in multiple awards. Awards resulting from this solicitation No. RFQ-NCI-10007-AS will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect at the time of award for commercial items using simplified procedures. Under this RFQ, the offeror shall provide clinically annotated biospecimens to TCGA for the following cancer types: Hepatocellular carcinoma, Head and neck (oral) squamous cell carcinoma, Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, Uterine Corpus (endometrial carcinoma), Astrocytoma, Cutaneous melanoma, Other Cancer Types Currently Not Identified. The NCI is expanding its basic and translational research programs that rely heavily on sufficient availability of high quality well annotated biospecimens suitable for use in genomic studies. The NCI's overarching goal with such programs is to improve the ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent cancer. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), one such program, is a comprehensive and coordinated effort to accelerate our understanding of the molecular basis of cancer through the application of genome analysis technologies. The NCI and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) launched TCGA as a 3-year pilot project in 2006, and have since (August 2009) initiated the second phase of the project to study at least 20 additional cancers over 5 years. This project aims to systematically explore the entire spectrum of genomic changes involved in human cancer. Specifically, the project is designed to comprehensively analyze DNA copy number changes, including large (on the order of chromosome segments) and small (1,000-100,000 kb) scale rearrangements, transcription profiles, epigenetic modifications, sequence variation, and sequence in both tumor tissue and case-matched germline DNA. The suite of analysis platforms will be applied to a common set of molecular analytes obtained from clinically annotated high-quality tumor biospecimens and case-matched normal tissue (control). More detailed information can be found at the project's website: http://cancergenome.nih.gov. To successfully generate comprehensive data in phase two, TCGA will need in excess of 40,000 biospecimens over course of the project.