Cancer biobank opens for business

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Cancer patients can now donate tissue samples to a national biobank set up to aid research.

It is hoped that scientists will be able to use samples housed at OnCore UK to learn more about cancer, and develop new treatments for the disease.

OnCore will also liaise with other tissue banks in the UK to integrate and improve access to archives already in existence.

To begin with only patients at selected NHS trusts can take part.

Samples of tissue and body fluids from patients are fast becoming the cornerstone of cancer research Professor Herbie NewellCancer Research UK

At present it is difficult to answer some of the most pressing research questions using samples from a single bank, as the number of samples is too small.

This is especially the case where rare cancers are concerned.

And different banks may also use different methods to prepare and preserve material, affecting consistency when scientists use samples from multiple sources.

It is hoped that OnCore will help to solve these problems.

Confidentiality

Healthcare professionals will give full information to patients before they formally agree to donate by signing a consent form, and samples will be stored according to vigorous rules to protect confidentiality.

Donations will be linked to information about the patient's medical history but researchers will not have access to donors' identities.

Brian Clark, chief executive of OnCore UK, said: "Many patients want to do something to support research into their disease and to help others in the future.

"OnCore UK can help people with cancer do this by providing them with an accessible and ethically approved way of donating samples and data.

"And they can do this safe in the knowledge that their donation will be stored securely and made available quickly to researchers throughout the country who can demonstrate how the samples can help their research."

Professor Herbie Newell, of Cancer Research UK, said the biobank would play a crucial role in the fight against cancer

He said: "Samples of tissue and body fluids from patients are fast becoming the cornerstone of cancer research.

"Analysing them helps us unravel how and why cells become cancerous.

"They play a vital and increasingly important role in the development and testing of new treatments for the disease.

"Enabling scientists to access the high quality samples they need will help speed the pace of research into cancer in the UK."