The Cancer Human Biobank (caHUB)
The Cancer Human Biobank (caHUB) is a National Cancer Institute biobanking infrastructure that was developed to support specialized biospecimen and data procurements for cancer research. The caHUB infrastructure supported both the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) and Biospecimen Preanalytical Variables (BPV) programs. The infrastructure is now being utilized for other NCI programs including the Clinical Proteomics Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC). Additional resources generated from the caHUB program include SOPs for high quality biospecimen collection, processing, storage and distribution, and several open source software and vocabulary products.
The caHUB infrastructure consists of the following components:
Biospecimen Source Sites (BSS): organizations, such as academic medical centers, rapid autopsy centers, and organ procurement organizations, that obtain patient consent, acquire biospecimens, and ship biospecimens to a number of program sites.
Comprehensive Biospecimen Resource (CBR): a centralized site that assembles collection and shipping kits, receives biospecimens from the BSS for processing and storage, and ships biospecimens from the BSS to other processing and analysis facilities. The CBR also generates H&E sections from FFPE blocks and produces digital images of these sections.
Comprehensive Data Resource (CDR): a centralized data storage facility that obtains patient and biospecimen data from BSS and other program sites that handle and analyze samples.
Pathology Resource Center (PRC): a network of board certified pathologists who review H&E sections from collected tissue biospecimens to confirm patient diagnosis and provide tissue quality metrics.
Molecular Analysis Facilities (MAFs): carry out molecular analysis on collected biospecimens.
The diagram below shows the flow of biospecimens and data through the biobanking infrastructure. Program operations include quality management, logistics, procurement, and data analysis and require hundreds of standard operating procedures.
