Establishment of biological sample repositories of cancer patients may. This paper aims to present the process of designing and implementation of Golestan Cancer Biobank (GoCB).
The GoCB office was allocated in a referral cancer hospital in Gorgan. Firstly, the GoCB project proposal was designed. Then, the standard operation procedures (SOP) were developed considering internationally accepted standards and protocols for different phases of the GoCB including sampling, sample processing, sample preservation as well as use of the samples. Collection of biological samples were started in early 2017. GoCB collects different types of biological samples including blood, urine and tissue (tumor and normal). We also collect demographic, risk factors and clinical data for cancer patients. GoCB uses specific software for tracking and management of biological samples as well as demographic, risk factors and clinical data.
Overall, GoCB collected 2743 different types of biological samples from 12. sources including public and private hospitals as well as public and private outpatient centers, by the end of August 2019. These samples were collected from 915 cancer patients, most commonly cancers of colorectal (31%), stomach (18%), breast (20%) and esophagus (10%).Totally, 25 physicians collaborated for collection of these samples including 7 surgeons, 6 gastroenterologists, 5 pathologists, 2 hematologists/oncologist and 5 physicians from other fields. The types of collected samples include blood and its derivatives (765), urine (581 samples), endoscopy biopsy (302 samples) and surgical resected tissues (495 samples).
The GoCB, as a research infrastructure, may play an important role in development of basic cancer research, especially in the field of cancer biology. The GoCB may also be considered as a model of designing and implementation of cancer biobanks in similar lower resources settings.