Annual Report 2018
Department of Biobank and Tissue Resources
Nobuyoshi Hiraoka, Hiromi Sakamoto, Masumi Tanaka, Teiko Yamane, Izumi Hayama, Nobuko Nangi, Yuka Izumi
Research activities
The Department of Biobank and Tissue Resources operates the National Cancer Center Biobank, supervised by the National Cancer Center Biobank Administration Committee. In 2018, 9,424 vials of tissue specimens obtained from surgically resected materials from 1,889 patients were newly deposited at the National Cancer Center Biobank and 3,467 vials of tissue specimens obtained from surgically resected materials of 2,232 patients were provided for research approved by the National Cancer Center Ethics Committee. The ratio of the number of patients from whom samples were provided for research to those of whom samples were newly deposited at the Biobank was about 118%. At the end of March, 2019, we reposited 105,513 vials containing tissue specimens from 24,872 patients.
In 2018, 57,577 vials of plasma samples drawn from 11,234 patients were newly deposited at the National Cancer Center Biobank and 9,077 vials of plasma samples drawn from 8,138 patients were provided for research approved by the National Cancer Center Ethics Committee. At the end of March, 2019, we reposited 325,822 vials of blood samples of 72,910 patients who consented to give blood samples for research purposes.
Researchers who received samples from the Biobank have published 603 scientic papers (total impact factor; 3474.266, total citation index; 16,670). A total of 64% of published papers were based on collaborative research between researchers of the National Cancer Center and outside researchers; 17% of which in particular centered on collaborative research with industries.
Many founders and/or contact persons of bioresource repositories of other universities and hospitals visited the National Cancer Center Biobank to learn about its management knowhow. We have been consulted by contact persons of bioresource repositories of other universities about storage systems for specimens and strove to get outside researchers to see appropriate collaborators in the National Cancer Center for collaborative research using our biobank specimens.
We have built up the catalog database, HosCanR Biobank Edition, by extracting appropriate information from the Interview Sheet Database in common form among six National Centers in Japan and HosCanR, an application specialized for the National Program of Cancer Registries. Researchers and biobank users can determine which samples best suit their own research plans using the search commands of this catalog database. In 2017, we established a close connection between HosCanR Biobank Edition and the central database of the National Center Biobank Network (NCBN) using an application programming interface. We also started work to set up a catalog database in the NCC Kashiwa campus. Staff of the National Cancer Center Biobank participate in the Central Steering Committee, the Chief Committee, Sample Handling System Review Working Group and Medical Information System Review Working Group of the NCBN.
Future prospects
We considered collecting samples for various research needs and managing the biobank, including a high-quality clinicopathological information database, as our ongoing national mission. The National Cancer Center Biobank should be pursued as a more robust and permanent research base and should also continuously support the NCBN and connect the intentions of voluntary donors to next-generation personalized medicine.