Laying the groundwork for the Biobank of Rare Malignant Neoplasms at the service of the Hellenic Network of Precision Medicine on Cancer

Abstract

Biobanks constitute an integral part of precision medicine. They provide a repository of biospecimens that may be used to elucidate the pathophysiology, support diagnoses, and guide the treatment of diseases. The pilot biobank of rare malignant neoplasms has been established in the context of the Hellenic Network of Precision Medicine on Cancer and aims to enhance future clinical and/or research studies in Greece by collecting, processing, and storing rare malignant neoplasm samples with associated data. The biobank currently comprises 553 samples; 384 samples of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue malignancies, 72 samples of pediatric brain tumors and 97 samples of malignant skin neoplasms. In this article, sample collections and their individual significance in clinical research are described in detail along with computational methods developed specifically for this project. A concise review of the Greek biobanking landscape is also delineated, in addition to recommended technologies, methodologies and protocols that were integrated during the creation of the biobank. This project is expected to re-enforce current clinical and research studies, introduce advances in clinical and genetic research and potentially aid in future targeted drug discovery. It is our belief that the future of medical research is entwined with accessible, effective, and ethical biobanking and that our project will facilitate research planning in the '-omic' era by contributing high-quality samples along with their associated data.

Under-Representation of Racial Groups in Genomics Studies of Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

“…72 Decentralization, or the establishment of multi-institutional regional biobanks that source from community institutions, may be of particular benefit to ethnoracial diversity in GEP-NEN genomics, due to their relatively rare nature. 73 While decentralization may also benefit ethnoracial diversity in biobanking similarly to clinical trial enrollment, consistency and standardization of procedures must be carefully considered to ensure specimen and data quality. 74 There are several limitations of the present study to be considered.…”

“…Such systems also allow institutions to provide information as to how patients’ samples will or are actively being used, which has been demonstrated to be a key factor in decision-making for biobank participation across racial groups ( 72 ). Decentralization, or the establishment of multi-institutional regional biobanks that source from community institutions, may be of particular benefit to ethnoracial diversity in GEP-NEN genomics, due to their relatively rare nature ( 73 ). While decentralization may also benefit ethnoracial diversity in biobanking similarly to clinical trial enrollment, consistency and standardization of procedures must be carefully considered to ensure specimen and data quality ( 74 ).…”

Estrategias de implementación de la medicina personalizada de precisión en otros sistemas sanitarios públicos internacionales. Estado del arte.

“…Se destaca también la escasez de recursos contemplados para las implicaciones éticas, jurídicas y sociales de las ciencias ómicas, las necesidades formativas y educativas, y la evaluación específica de estas tecnologías sanitarias y su implementación. La financiación principal de la MPP en Grecia parece tener origen público [72][73][74] .…”

Biobanks as an important tool in modern translational oncology

“…In contrast, biobanks focusing on rare diseases, such as rare malignancies, are now being actively established (www. rarecancerseurope.org; Kanakoglou et al, 2022). The creation of international biobank associations collecting such samples allows large-scale studies on relatively large samples of patients with such diseases, including malignant neoplasms with diffuse localization.…”