The Establishment of an ISO Compliant Cancer Biobank for Jordan and its Neighboring Countries Through Knowledge Transfer and Training

Abstract

Research studies aimed at advancing cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment depend on a number of key resources, including a ready supply of high-quality annotated biospecimens from diverse ethnic populations that can be used to test new drugs, assess the validity of prognostic biomarkers, and develop tailor-made therapies. In November 2011, KHCCBIO was established at the King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) with the support of Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) funding from the European Union (khccbio.khcc.jo). KHCCBIO was developed for the purpose of achieving an ISO accredited cancer biobank through the collection, processing, and preservation of high-quality, clinically annotated biospecimens from consenting cancer patients, making it the first cancer biobank of its kind in Jordan. The establishment of a state-of-the-art, standardized biospecimen repository of matched normal and lung tumor tissue, in addition to blood components such as serum, plasma, and white blood cells, was achieved through the support and experience of its European partners, Trinity College Dublin, Biostór Ireland, and accelopment AG. To date, KHCCBIO along with its partners, have worked closely in establishing an ISO Quality Management System (QMS) under which the biobank will operate. A Quality Policy Manual, Validation, and Training plan have been developed in addition to the development of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for consenting policies on ethical issues, data privacy, confidentiality, and biobanking bylaws. SOPs have also been drafted according to best international practices and implemented for the donation, procurement, processing, testing, preservation, storage, and distribution of tissues and blood samples from lung cancer patients, which will form the basis for the procurement of other cancer types. KHCCBIO will be the first ISO accredited cancer biobank from a diverse ethnic Middle Eastern and North African population. It will provide a unique and valuable resource of high-quality human biospecimens and anonymized clinicopathological data to the cancer research communities world-wide.

Research participants’ perceptions and views on consent for biobank research: a review of empirical data and ethical analysis

“…For reasons due to design of the study (i.e. selection of articles operated through a specific algorithm and through specific criteria as choosing only those studies where an informed consent was performed) and not least because a considerable amount of biobank research and accompanying ethico, legal and social studies are performed in Western countries, our results do not include socio-empirical data from the so-called ‘developing countries’ – the only article retrieved through our PubMed search on biobanking in developing countries has been excluded as not focused on informed consent [ 65 ]. This characteristic represents a limitation, as a review on socio-empirical literature about biobanking including data from developing countries would be of help to better understand implications for the conduct of consent in culture where there is, for example, an emphasis on oral communication and oral consent [ 66 ].…”

<p>Population&rsquo;s perspectives toward biobanks in scientific research: a study from Jordan</p>

“…Several studies have investigated the participants’ preferences regarding storage/reuse of collected bio-specimens especially with the recent interest in developing biobanks around the world 20–25. In November 2011, King Hussein Cancer Center Amman, Jordan announced the establishment of a cancer biobank for Jordan and neighboring countries 26. Deliberation of best practices is necessary to enhance recruitment efforts and public support for such projects.…”

<p>Challenges that face the establishment of diabetes biobank in Jordan: a qualitative analysis of an online discussion forum</p>

“…Financially speaking, the start-up investment for a biobank project needs a big fund for infrastructure, operating costs, sample acquisition, personnel, and other expenses, which are included into a model based on inadequate experience and limited data 30. It is worth to mention that Jordan has started to build its first cancer biobank (KHCCBIO), which is being established with support from four European organizations that covered all expertise and skills needed for biobank 31. This successful example can move forward the idea of establishing Diabetes biobank in Jordan.…”