Biobanking for better healthcare

Riegman, Peter H.J.; Morente, Manuel M.; Betsou, Fay; de Blasio, Pasquale; Geary, Peter; the Marble Arch International Working Group on Biobanking for Biomedical Research,

doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2008.07.004

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Volume 2, Issue 3 , Pages 213-222, October 2008

Biobanking for better healthcare

Peter H.J. Riegman
- Department of Pathology, Josephine Nefkens Institute, Erasmus Medical Center, Be 235b, Dr Molwaterplein 50, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Corresponding author. Department of Pathology, Josephine Nefkens Institute, Be 235b, Erasmus Medical Center, Dr Molwaterplein 50, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 107044421; fax: +31 107044762.
Manuel M. Morente
- Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncologicas, Melchor Fernandez Almagro 3, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Fay Betsou
- Biobanque de Picardie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire d'Amiens, avenue René Laënnec, 80480 Salouel, France
Pasquale de Blasio
- BioRep srl, Via Fantoli 16/15, 20138 Milano, Italy
Peter Geary
- Canadian Tumour Repository Network, 675 McDermot Avenue, Rm. ON 6022 Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E OV9, Canada
the Marble Arch International Working Group on Biobanking for Biomedical Research
- Marble Arch Working group members: Fay Betsou, Biobanque de Picardie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire d'Amiens, Salouel, France; Roger Bjugn, Ullevaal University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Brian Clark, Oncore UK, Hertfordshire, UK; Johan Botling, Department of Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala, Sweden; Pasquale Deblasio, Biorep S.r.l., Milan, Italy; Mylene Deschenes, P3G Consortium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Rajiv Dhirr, Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, PA, USA; Ian Fore, Biorepository and Pathology Informatics, NCI Center for Bioinformatics, Rockville, USA; Eoin Gaffney, Consultant Histopathologist, Department of Histopathology, St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland; Peter Geary, Canadian Tumour Repository Network, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Peter Goebell Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.William Grizzle, Tissue Collection & Banking Facility, University of Alabama, Birmingham, USA; Pierre Hainaut, International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, Lyon, France; Jane Hair, Bio Bank Services, Pathology Department Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, UK; Robert Hewitt, NUH-NUS Tissue Repository, National University Hospital, Singapore; Karen Meir, Department of Pathology, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel; Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Lisa Miranda, University of Pennsylvania, Haddon Township, USA; Manuel Morente, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncologicas, Madrid, Spain; Alison Parry-Jones Wales Cancer Bank, Cardiff, UK.Alexandre Passioukov EORTC Data Center, Brussels, Belgium; Peter Riegman, Department of Pathology, Josephine Nefkens Institute, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Jose Claudio Casali Da Rocha, Brazilian National Tumor Bank, Instituto Nacional de Cancer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Daniel Simeon-Dubach Foundation Biobank-Suisse, Bern, Switzerland; Fernando Soares, A C Camargo Biobank, Hospital A C Camargo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Gerry Thomas, Wales Cancer Bank, Cardiff, UK; Jim Vaught, Office of Biorepositories & Biospecimen Research, NCI/OD, Bethesda, USA; Nikolajs Zeps, Radiation Oncology, Sir Charles Gaidner Hospital, Perth, Australia.

Received 15 July 2008; received in revised form 18 July 2008; accepted 21 July 2008. published online 19 August 2008.

Abstract

Translational cancer research is highly dependent of large series of cases including high quality samples and their associated data. Comprehensive Cancer Centers should be involved in networks to enable large-scale multi-center research projects between the centers [Ringborg, U., de Valeriola, D., van Harten, W., Llombart-Bosch, A., Lombardo, C., Nilsson, K., Philip, T., Pierotti, M.A., Riegman, P., Saghatchian, M., Storme, G., Tursz, T., Verellen, D, 2008. Improvement of European translational cancer research. Collaboration between comprehensive cancer centers. Tumori 94, 143–146.]. Combating cancer knows many frontiers. Research is needed for prevention as well as better care for those who have acquired the disease. This implies that human samples for cancer research need to be sourced from distinct forms of biobanking. An easier access to these samples for the scientific community is considered as the main bottleneck for research for health, and biobanks are the most adequate site to try to resolve this issue [Ozols, R.F., Herbst, R.S., Colson, Y.L., Gralow, J., Bonner, J., Curran Jr., W.J., Eisenberg, B.L., Ganz, P.A., Kramer, B.S., Kris, M.G., Markman, M., Mayer, R.J., Raghavan, D., Reaman, G.H., Sawaya, R., Schilsky, R.L., Schuchter, L.M., Sweetenham, J.W., Vahdat, L.T., Winn, R.J., and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2007. Clinical cancer advances 2006: major research advances in cancer treatment, prevention, and screening: a report from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. J. Clin. Oncol. 25, 146–162.].

However, biobanks should not be considered a static activity. On the contrary, biobanking is a young discipline [Morente, M.M., Fernandez, P.L., de Alava, E. Biobanking: old activity or young discipline? Semin. Diagn. Pathol., in press.], which need continuously evolve according to the permanent development of new techniques and new scientific goals. To accomplish current requirements of the scientific community biobanks need to face some essential challenges including an appropriate design, harmonized and more suitable procedures, and sustainability, all of them in the framework of their ethic, legal and social dimensions.

This review therefore presents an overview on these issues, based on the works and discussions of the Marble Arch International Working Group on Biobanking for Biomedical Research, integrated by experts in biobanking from five continents.

Keywords: Biobank, Translational research, Healthcare, Biorepository, Biobank network, Research infrastructure