The AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR) - HIV malignancy specimens and data available at no cost

Sep 28, 2026

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The AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR) advances HIV/AIDS cancer-related research and treatment by providing richly annotated human biospecimens and associated clinical data to eligible investigators at no cost. ACSR acquires, stores, and equitably distributes samples for studies of HIV/AIDS malignancies worldwide. This review outlines ACSR’s history, organization, specimen types, and specimen request process, and summarizes research outcomes from the past five years, including newly identified cancer-relevant findings in people with HIV.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

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Abstract

Mission of the AIDS and cancer specimen resource (ACSR)

Evolution of the ACSR

Silver and Schmelz AIDS Research and Therapy (2023) 20:61 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12981-023-00558-4](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12981-023-00558-4) AIDS Research and Therapy REVIEW Open Access The AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR): HIV malignancy specimens and data available at no cost Sylvia Silver1 and Monika Schmelz2* Abstract The goal of the AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR) is to play a major role in the advancement of HIV/ AIDS cancer-related research/treatment by providing richly annotated biospecimens and data to researchers at no cost. The ACSR acquires, stores, and equitably distributes these samples and associated clinical data to investigators conducting HIV/AIDS-related research, at no costs. Currently, it is the only biorepository of human biospecimens from people with HIV and cancer available to eligible researchers globally who are studying HIV associated malignancies. This review describes the history and organizational structure of the ACSR, its types of specimens in its inventory, and the process of requesting specimens. In addition, the review provides an overview of research that was performed over the last 5 years with its support and gives a summary of important new findings acquired by this research into the development of cancers in people with HIV, including both Aids-related and non-Aids-related malignancies. Keywords HIV-related malignancy, Non-HIV related malignancy, Specimens, Biorepository Mission of the AIDS and cancer specimen resource (ACSR) The vision of the AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource (ACSR) is to support the advancement of HIV/AIDS cancer-related research/treatment by providing richly annotated biospecimens and data to researchers at no cost. These materials are suitable for a broad range of projects that use traditional and cutting-edge technologies and analyses to address novel hypotheses. The ACSR’s mission is to acquire, store, and equitably distribute these *Correspondence: Monika Schmelz [schmelz@arizona.edu](schmelz@arizona.edu) 1Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA 2Department of Pathology, University of Arizona, 1501 N. Campbell Ave, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA samples and associated clinical data to investigators conducting HIV/AIDS-related research. Although the focus is on HIV and cancer, the inventory reflects other reactive and infectious processes collected in the mid to late 90’s that have been useful as controls and for studies of the HIV reservoir. The ACSR is the sole biospecimen resource for the confluence of HIV and cancer with a physical inventory that spans both the pre-and postHAART (antiretroviral therapies) eras ofthe pandemic. The purpose of this review is to provide a description of the ACSR, its inventory of biospecimens, and a summary of research publications that acknowledge grants of specimens and support from the ACSR. © The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The)[. The](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The)[ ](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The)Creati

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the ACSR?

The ACSR supports advancement of HIV/AIDS cancer-related research and treatment by providing richly annotated biospecimens and associated clinical data to researchers at no cost.

What does the review cover about the ACSR?

It describes ACSR’s history and organizational structure, its specimen types, how specimens can be requested, and summarizes research performed over the last five years using ACSR support.

Who can receive ACSR biospecimens and data, and what costs apply?

Eligible researchers globally can access human biospecimens and associated clinical data, with distribution provided at no cost for HIV/AIDS-related research.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Aditya