UK Tissue Bank Open for Pancreatic Research

UK-based researchers needing samples of blood, urine and saliva to aid their pancreatic diseases research can now turn to the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Tissue Bank (PCRF Tissue Bank), created to help drive the development of diagnostic tools and new treatments in this field.

Set up in 2016 with £2.4 million from the medical research charity and coordinated from the Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University of London, the PCRF Tissue Bank is the largest of its kind in the world and now holds some 45,000 unique samples of blood, urine, saliva and tissue as well as matched surrounding healthy tissue, donated from 2,200 consenting patients (collected over 2,800 visits) who underwent biopsies or surgery for a range of pancreatic diseases at one of eight partner hospitals across the UK. 

Professor Hemant Kocher, a pancreatic cancer researcher at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London and consultant pancreas and liver surgeon, spearheaded development at the Tissue Bank. “We’re really proud of what’s been achieved so far. It was always a highly ambitious venture, but one that was much needed to speed up research progress - particularly for pancreatic cancer, where prognosis remains devastatingly bleak for most patients.”

This ‘Phase 1’ access to biological fluids will be welcomed by all those investigating biomarkers for earlier disease diagnosis. Phase 2 will see the release of fresh cancer and matched healthy tissues, as well as formalin fixed paraffin embedded samples to help progress research into new treatments.

“We also hope in due course to be able to respond to researcher requests for prospective samples,” adds Professor Kocher. “The timing of this will depend on the expressions of interest we receive.”

Professor Kocher is also keen to offer access to samples to the international research community as soon the team are confident that stocks are sufficient to meet the expected level of interest. 

All data generated by research projects using PCRF Tissue Bank samples will be fed back into a bespoke database and made freely available to the global research community. 

Researchers can register their interest for samples online: