NCTN Biospecimen Banks

A unique resource for well-annotated cancer clinical trial biospecimens to enable biomarker discovery and improve cancer treatment.

Who We Are

The National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) Biospecimen Banks (NCTN Biobanks) receive, store, and distribute human biospecimens collected on NCTN clinical trials. NCTN Biobanks provide cancer researchers with quality, well-annotated biospecimens with associated clinical information. Requests for NCTN Biospecimens from completed NCTN clinical trials may be submitted by investigators in the research community, not only members of the NCTN Groups.

About the NCTN Biobanks

THE NCTN Biobanks receive, store, and distribute biospecimens for the five NCTN Groups as well as the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG):

Collectively, the NCTN Biobanks house solid tumor biospecimens from all organ types, as well as hematological malignancies.

Biospecimen types available include, but are not limited to:

Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue
Fresh frozen tissue
Whole blood, serum, plasma, white blood cells, bone marrow and cells
Nucleic acids
Urine, stool
Digital Images from H&E or IHC stained slides

Publications

Notable publications illustrating the important scientific contributions resulting from the use of NCTN Biobank resources.

Publication from NRG Oncology

This paper reports the first validated predictive biomarker test that can identify which patients can avoid, and those most likely to get benefit from adding antiandrogens to their radiation therapy for prostate cancer. The test is based on an artificial intelligence image analysis (AIIA) algorithm developed using digital images from 16,277 H&E slides from 5727 patients enrolled on 5 NRG Trials; RTOG-9202, RTOG-9408, RTOG-9413, RTOG-9910, RTOG-0126, and is an expansion of prior work done with this set of patients’

Spratt DE, et al. Artificial Intelligence Predictive Model for Hormone Therapy Use in Prostate Cancer. Res Sq [Preprint]. 2023 Apr 21:rs.3.rs-2790858. View the Publication

Publication from Children's Oncology Group

Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood. Despite aggressive therapy, the 5-year survival rate for patients with metastatic or recurrent disease remains poor, and beyond PAX-FOXO1 fusion status, no genomic markers are available for risk stratification. This publication addresses the largest genomic characterization of clinically annotated rhabdomyosarcoma tumors to date and provides prognostic genetic features that refine risk stratification and will be incorporated into prospective trials.

Shern JF, et al. Genomic Classification and Clinical Outcome in Rhabdomyosarcoma: A Report From an International Consortium. J Clin Oncol. 2021 Sep 10;39(26):2859-2871. doi: 10.1200/JCO.20.03060. Epub 2021 Jun 24. View the Publication

Publication from ECOG-ACRIN

This study reports the discovery of somatic mutations in the chemokine gene CCL22 as the hallmark of a distinct subset of Chronic lymphoproliferative disorder of natural killer cells (CLPD-NK). Somatic CCL22 mutations illustrate a unique mechanism of tumor formation in which gain-of-function chemokine mutations promote tumorigenesis by biased GPCR signaling and dysregulation of microenvironmental crosstalk. Acute NK leukemia samples were provided by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group.

Baer C, et al. CCL22 mutations drive natural killer cell lymphoproliferative disease by deregulating microenvironmental crosstalk. Nat Genet. 2022 May;54(5):637-648. Epub 2022 May 5. View the Publication

Publication from Alliance

In this predictive prognostic study in which a combined correlative analysis of the CALGB (Alliance) 40601 and PAMELA trials was conducted, 305 patients with early-stage ERBB2/HER2-positive breast cancer, 6 B-cell–related signatures were more strongly associated with pathologic complete response than were tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. In a multivariable Cox model performed in the CALGB 40601 trial, the immunoglobulin G signature, but not tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, was independently associated with event-free survival. These findings suggest that when both tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and gene expression analysis results are available, the prognostic and predictive value of RNA sequencing–based immune signatures is superior.

Fernandez-Martinez A, et al. Prognostic and Predictive Value of Immune-Related Gene Expression Signatures vs Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Early-Stage ERBB2/HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: A Correlative Analysis of the CALGB 40601 and PAMELA Trials. JAMA Oncol. 2023 Apr 1;9(4):490-499. View the Publication

Publication from SWOG

The prognostic role of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) and DNA Damage Immune Response (DDIR) in early-stage Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) was confirmed. DDIR signature conferred improved prognosis in two thirds of patients with TNBC treated with adjuvant doxorubicin (A) and cyclophosphamide (C). DDIR signature has the potential to stratify outcome and to identify patients with less projected benefit after AC chemotherapy. In summary, This study identified the DDIR signature and sTILs as predictive of improved disease-free survival and overall survival for TNBC in the context of adjuvant AC chemotherapy.

Sharma P, et al. Validation of the DNA Damage Immune Response (DDIR) Signature in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) Patients from the SWOG 9313c Trial. Journal of Clinical Oncology Dec 20;37(36):3484-3492, 2019. View the Publication

Publication from Canadian Cancer Trials Group

This publication is the most recent in a body of work that involved a GWAS done on more than 4000 patients from the NCTN/CCTG MA.27 trial - A Randomized Phase III Trial of Exemestane Versus Anastrozole in Postmenopausal Women with Receptor Positive Primary Breast Cancer. This particular study looked at the association of specific SNPs and outcomes and identified SNPs that differentiate the efficacy of anastrozole and exemestane. The results suggest that additional genetic biomarkers may be useful for selecting an AI for a given patient.

Cairns J, et al. Interaction Between SNP Genotype and Efficacy of Anastrozole and Exemestane in Early-Stage Breast Cancer. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2021 Oct;110(4):1038-1049. Epub 2021 Jun 21. View the Publication

How to Access Biospecimens

NCTN Catalog

The NCTN Biospecimen Catalog provides a searchable, comprehensive listing of NCTN Trial Biospecimens that may be available for secondary use in correlative science studies.

Requests for biospecimens are made either through the NCTN Biospecimen Navigator or directly from the corresponding NCTN Group Bank, depending upon the specific trial. In both instances, investigators will be provided with a feasibility assessment and cost estimate upon review of the request.

NCTN biospecimens are available to investigators from the cancer research community based on a review and approval by the NCTN Core Correlative Sciences Committee (NCTN-CCSC).

NCTN Catalog search results will direct you to the appropriate resource to obtain further details and submit a specific request.

Access the NCTN Catalog

Access NCTN Navigator

The NCTN Navigator is a resource for investigators who have typically conducted exploratory correlative analysis and are now seeking specimens to validate their hypotheses.

Contact NCTN Groups

Biospecimens not available via NCTN Navigator may be requested through the NCTN Group. Please refer to the appropriate NCTN Group for additional information.

Note: If requesting biospecimens from more than one trial and at least one trial is in NCTN Navigator, then the entire request must be submitted through NCTN Navigator.

Additional Resources

NCI Specimen Resource Locator

This is a database to help researchers locate human specimens (e.g., tissue, serum, DNA/RNA, other specimens) for cancer research.

ClinicalTrials.gov

This is a database of privately and publicly funded clinical studies conducted around the world.

CHTN

The CHTN is a unique NCI supported resource that provides human tissues and fluids from routine procedures to investigators who utilize human biospecimens in their research. Unlike tissue banks, the CHTN works prospectively with each investigator to tailor specimen acquisition and processing to meet their specific project requirements.

National Disease Research Interchange

NDRI distributes biospecimens to hundreds of investigators around the world who are working to advance many areas of science and healthcare. NDRI makes it easy for approved investigators to get much-needed biospecimens prepared, preserved and shipped precisely according the specific needs of the research protocol.