The Tumour Bank, established in 1998, was the first paediatric cancer biobank in the Southern hemisphere. It is co-located with the Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) and operates as a hospital-integrated model. The Tumour Bank is currently staffed by 5 full-time employees who provide biobanking services to support pre-clinical translational cancer research studies, clinical trials and precision oncology. The Tumour Bank’s biomaterial procurement strategy is to collect cancer specimens and control tissue contributed by patients through the normal course of treatment.
The Tumour Bank inventory consists of over 43,000 specimens from over 3,788 paediatric patients, representing 50 different types of cancers. These include fresh frozen and FFPE tissue, whole peripheral blood and its components, whole Bone Marrow Aspirate samples, CSF, urine and saliva. Over the years, the Tumour Bank has provided biomaterial to research groups both nationally and internationally, which has resulted in research output of 80 scientific publications to date.
For more information, please contact A/Prof Daniel Catchpoole daniel.catchpoole@health.nsw.gov.au
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