The Manchester Cancer Research Centre Biobank

 

The Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) is a partnership between The University of Manchester, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Cancer Research UK. Fundamental to the vision of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre as a world class cancer research centre is the availability of a large quantity of high quality biological samples for research purposes.

In 2007, a working group was set-up to establish a new regional cancer biobank. Five hospital Trusts across Manchester have Biobank Technicians dedicated to collecting tissue, blood and urine from patients undergoing surgery for confirmed or suspected cancer. This material is then stored centrally at The Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, where researchers can then apply to use these samples in their cancer research projects. Human tissues and data collection have traditionally been the responsibility of the individual researcher. The role of the Biobank is to centralise and standardise these collections allowing more efficient use of resources to ensure high quality sample collection and easy access of samples for research