A new national tumor bank called the National Cancer Tissue Resource (NCTR) is being developed in the United Kingdom to address a possible bottleneck in cancer researchthe lack of tissue samples to test potential cancer treatments and develop new diagnostic tests.
The "virtual bank" is being launched by the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), a recently formed partnership between the government, the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research U.K., and other cancer charities. The NCTR will cost around £1 million (about US $1.5 million) a year to run. Funding for the first phase of the tumor bank has been secured for the first 5 years.
"Up until now we have had a fragmented approach to collecting and using tumor samples for research," said Liam OToole, Ph.D.,director of the NCRI. "This initiative from the NCRI partnership now gives us an opportunity to do things properly on a much bigger scale for the benefit of cancer patients."
The initial blueprint for the NCTR has been drawn up by the National Translational Cancer Research Network (NTRAC)a network of 10 cancer centers designed to translate laboratory research more quickly to the clinic by integrating and sharing expertise and resources.
The resource will consist of a network of centers embedded within the national health system, each collecting and storing samples locally and linked together by a computer system. In the long term, processing centers may be able to extract DNA, RNA, and related products from frozen tissue according to standard operating procedures. The national resource will also provide infrastructure and capabilities to enable production of tissue microarrays from paraffin-embedded samples associated with clinical trials.
The main features of the system include a coordinating center that will manage and oversee the development of standard protocols for collection and storage of samples. A computer system will be developed that will track all samples throughout the network and provide a link between histopathologic data and clinical/outcome data as well as research results. The coordinating center will work with an advisory panel to provide advice on standardizing sample storage, processing, and all quality assurance controls.
"The National Cancer Tissue Resource is a very important development for cancer research in the [United Kingdom] and we look forward to working closely with the cancer community to make this resource available to front-line researchers," said David Kerr, M.D., Ph.D., Rhodes Professor of Therapeutic Sciences and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Oxford and director of NTRAC.
Watching these developments closely are representatives from other cancer institutions worldwide. According to NCI Director Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D., plans are in the works for a national biological sample resource. (See News, Vol. 95, No. 3, p. 186, and Vol. 94, No. 19, p. 1429.) "The U.K. initiative is a significant advance that will provide major benefits to cancer researchers," he said. "These national resources are important developments in accelerating the successful translation of laboratory research to the clinic."
Another important consideration in building the new system is to put in place a coherent and ethical national framework that will protect the rights of individuals contributing tissue samples to the bank. The Department of Health for England and Wales is preparing new legislation for the use of human tissue and the NCTR will operate in accordance with the latest guidance and law in this area.
"Those charged with implementing and operating the national resource are acutely aware of the need to protect a patients anonymity whilst retaining a coded link between the samples and clinical data," Kerr said. "Guidelines for use of the system and a transparent mechanism of access by all partieswhether in the private or public sectorwill be put in place and carefully monitored."
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