Annual Report 2019
Department of Biobank and Tissue Resources
Nobuyoshi Hiraoka, Hiromi Sakamoto, Masumi Tanaka, Teiko Yamane, Izumi Hayama, Ayako Inoue, Yuka Izumi, Yoshinori Ishikawa
Research activities
The Department of Biobank and Tissue Resources operates the National Cancer Center Biobank under the supervision of the National Cancer Center Biobank Administration Committee.
In 2019, 10,941 vials of tissue specimens obtained from surgically resected materials from 2,104 patients were newly deposited at the National Cancer Center Biobank, and 4,197 vials of tissue specimens obtained from surgically resected materials from 2,445 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 from whom samples were newly deposited at the Biobank was about 116%. At the end of March, 2020, we reposited 110,331 vials of tissue specimens from 26,588 patients.
In 2019, 55,784 vials of plasma samples drawn from 10,827 patients were newly deposited at the National Cancer Center Biobank and 5,133 vials of plasma samples drawn from 4,891 patients were provided for research approved by the National Cancer Center Ethics Committee. At the end of March, 2020, we reposited 277,581 vials of blood samples from 83,208 patients who consented to give blood samples for research purposes.
Researchers who received samples from the Biobank have published 686 scientific papers (total impact factor: 3,906.165, total citation index: 21,558). A total of 64% of the published papers were based on collaborative research between researchers of the National Cancer Center and outside researchers; in particular, 18 % of those were based on collaborative research with industry.
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. We 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 a 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 2019, we set up the 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. The Sample Utilization Working Group of the NCBN cooperated with BioBank Japan, Tohoku Medical Megabank, and some University Biobanks and released the first edition of a cross-search system whereby samples can be searched in all Japanese biobanks joined to the program.
Future prospects
The continuous collection of samples for various research needs and management of the biobank, including a high-quality clinicopathological information database, are considered to be a national mission. The National Cancer Center Biobank should be continued and become 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.