Working in partnership with leading research hospitals, the National Foundation for Cancer Research is expanding its Tissue Bank Consortium in Asia to provide access to high quality cancer tissue to researchers around the globe and promote collaborative research.

Tissue preserved in a tissue bank is, quite possibly, the single most valuable resource for cancer researchers today.  Genetic data from cancer tissue, coupled with the development of technologies to assay the molecules and pathways in tumor cells, is revolutionizing the way physicians understand their patients' disease, and changing the ways new cancer treatments are developed.  Because of the potential of new proteomic and genomic technologies to accelerate progress in cancer research, access to high quality tissue with related clinical and follow-up treatment data is needed now more than ever.

Working in partnership with leading research hospitals such as the Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital in China, NFCR has established the Tissue Bank Consortium in Asia (TBCA) to provide access to high-quality, well annotated cancer tissue to researchers around the globe who are seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the role of specific genes, proteins, and pathways in cancer.  Armed with this knowledge, scientists can collaborate to further unravel the molecular mysteries of cancer and translate these discoveries into new and more effective therapies for cancer patients.

The Tissue Bank Consortium in Asia, a program of the National Foundation for Cancer Research, has a unique approach which is helping to overcome many challenges facing scientists today who must rely on access to carefully preserved tumor and blood samples to conduct their research:

• The Consortium structure provides a common platform for all Member Tissue Banks regarding operating standards, quality control procedures, tissue collection and storage, data collection and annotation, and database system and management.  This ensures that samples held by Member Tissue Banks meet international standards for quality and have appropriate clinical data to make them more useful for research purposes. The Consortium approach also assures that the use of such valuable tissues can be properly monitored and directed toward meritorious research that holds the promise of delivering new benefits to cancer patients.
• Decentralized collection & storage increases the number of high-quality tumor and normal tissue samples in the inventory and improve access to samples of rare cancer types.
• A centralized informatics database (the TBCA Biospecimen Locator) makes data accessible and searchable by end users through the Consortium website.
• The Consortium fosters proactive collection of targeted tissue types, including hard-to-collect tissues, without which it could be impossible to develop new targeted cancer therapies for patients dealing with many types of cancer.
• Consortium members include corporate, academic, and government agencies, which helps foster the building of new networks and lowers barriers to more global collaboration in cancer research.
• The Consortium promotes research collaboration among corporate and academic scientists from China and elsewhere in Asia, the United States, Europe, and Latin America.