The Norwegian childhood cancer biobank

Abstract

Background The rapidly expanding era of “omics” research is highly dependent on the availability of quality‐proven biological material, especially for rare conditions such as pediatric malignancies. Professional biobanks provide such material, focusing on standardized collection and handling procedures, distinctive quality measurements, traceability of storage conditions, and accessibility. For pediatric malignancies, traditional tumor biobanking is challenging due to the rareness and limited amount of tissue and blood samples. The higher molecular heterogeneity, lower mutation rates, and unique genomic landscapes, however, renders biobanking of this tissue even more crucial. Aim The aim of this study was to test and establish methods for a prospective and centralized biobank for infants, children, and adolescents up to 18 years of age diagnosed with cancer in Norway. Methods Obtain judicial and ethical approvals and administration through a consortium, steering committee, and advisory board. Develop pipelines including SOPs for all aspects in the biobank process, including collection, processing and storing of samples and data, as well of quality controlling, safeguarding, distributing, and transport. Results The childhood cancer biobanking started at Oslo University Hospital in March 2017 and was from 2019 run as a national Norwegian Childhood Cancer Biobank. Informed consent and biological samples are collected regionally and stored centrally. Approximately 12 000 samples from 510 patients and have been included by January 1, 2021, representing a 96% consent and participation rate among our newly diagnosed patients. Conclusion A well‐functioning nationwide collection and centralized biobank with standardized procedures and national storage for pediatric malignancies has been established with a high acceptance among families.

Depletion of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in the gut microbiota of children diagnosed with cancer

“…The cohort of patients included children within an age range from newborn to 17 years. In particular in the ST group was the median age two years (inter quartile range 0-11) relative to 4.5 (3.5-6.5) for leukemia and 9.5 (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) for CNS tumors. An initial non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis demonstrated the large effect age had on the microbiota in this cohort (Figure S1).…”

“…Fecal samples from children diagnosed with cancer (n = 48) were collected and withdrawn from the Norwegian Childhood Cancer Biobank (NCCB), where biological samples are collected prior to diagnosis and stored according to standard protocols [13] (Hermansen et al 2021).…”

Reduced abundance of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in the gut microbiota of children diagnosed with cancer, a pilot study

“…Fecal samples from children diagnosed with cancer (N=48) were collected (prior to treatment) at the hospital and frozen directly upon sampling, without any kind of preservation medium (Figure S1). Samples were then withdrawn from the Norwegian Childhood Cancer Biobank (NCCB), where biological samples are stored according to standard protocols (Hermansen et al, 2021). Sample collection began in March 2017 and was ongoing until DNA extraction and sequencing in 2020.…”

The Norwegian Childhood Cancer Biobank

“…6 The Norwegian Childhood Cancer Biobank (NCCB) is a prospective biobank including infants, children, and adolescents from 0 to 18 years of age diagnosed with cancer in Norway. 7 The overall aim of the NCCB is to stimulate and facilitate basic and translational research within childhood cancer through a national pipeline for biobanking tumor, microbiotic, and germline tissue at all regional childhood cancer departments and from all children with newly diagnosed cancer in Norway, providing the basis for advanced childhood cancer research on a national and international basis.…”