The biobanks associated with the CARPEM project are dedicated to diagnosis but also to research. The infrastructures hosting these biobanks are located within the Hôpital
CARPEM’s objectives are to coordinate and harmonize methods for storing tumor tissue. The collaborative work of these three tumour banks, thanks to the recruitment of three engineers by CARPEM (one in each of the structures), has made it possible to extend the OncoHEGP project (tumour bank launched in 2011 at HEGP). Named OncoCCH in Cochin (2015) and OncoNEM in Necker (2017), this project, dedicated to the management of biological resources collected during standard care, has the main objective of strengthening the biological resources available for research.
The OncoHEGP / OncoCCH / OncoNEM collaborative project is divided into three main areas:
A common consent form in oncology:
A standardized consent form for oncology has been generated in the three hospitals (OncoHEGP, OncoCCH and OncoNEM), complies with legal and ethical requirements and has been approved by a Personal Protection Committee. Close collaborations have been established with the health services in order to increase the number of patient contacts and improve the quality of the information provided. Within one year, the number of consents collected in the tumour banks of Cochin and HEGP increased considerably and has been growing ever since. This achievement has almost doubled the percentage of frozen samples associated with consent, reaching almost 25% of all frozen tissue in Cochin and 40% in HEGP. The ambition is to reach 100%.
Thanks to the joint work of CARPEM engineers from Necker and HEGP, the Necker Biological Resource Center has homogenized its information and consent documents with those of HEGP. Once validated in their new format, the objective is to move towards a universal signature for all new patients with hemopathic malignancies.
If you wish to obtain a version of the OncoHEGP or OncoCCH consents, you can contact Ms. Marine Largeau (CARPEM engineer in charge of this project at HEGP) or Prof. Benoît Terris (at the tumor library of Cochin Hospital).
A virtual tumour bank:
CARPEM’s translational research platform on data integration is assisted by biobanks to set up a database of non-identifying clinical, biological and personal data and biological material: the virtual tumour bank. Thanks to the OncoCCH and OncoHEGP projects, thousands of healthcare samples are usable for research, within a defined framework and meeting the criteria of the ethics committee. As the quantity of samples available for research has increased dramatically, the virtual tumour bank will then allow any investigator to visualise the high quality biological material available for research projects. Queries on the presence of samples needed for research will eventually be automatically performed on the tumour banks of the three hospitals.
Resulting from the union of two functional units in 2011, the Biological Resource Centre and the Tumorotheque, the Platform Biological Resource Centre of the HEGP (PRB-HEGP), jointly directed by Professor C. Badoual and Doctor B. Védie, is certified according to the French standard S96-900 since January 2015. These two sub-units work together under the same Quality Management System (QMS) and with cross-cutting staff :
the biological resource centre manages liquid samples (mainly blood),
the tumour library preserves pathological and normal frozen tissue samples, mainly from ENT, thoracic, gynaecological, urological, digestive and endocrine cancers.
PRB-HEGP plays a key role in sample management:
It organises the collection of biological samples as well as their transport, processing, protection, recovery and availability.
It records bio-clinical information about the samples.
It provides researchers with high-quality biological material (approximately 33,000 cryopreserved biological samples from 15,000 patients, including more than 6,000 samples already dedicated to research), as well as associated expertise in data and sample management.
It assists investigators in the establishment of their project by providing expertise on the management of the biological collection, on the circuits and processing, but also on the drafting of the regulatory and ethical files essential for the start of the study.
All these facilities meet legal, regulatory and ethical requirements. Their activities are carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions described in their charters. A Strategic Committee and a Scientific Committee ensure compliance with their policies.
CRB Cochin :
Created in 2006, the tumour bank at Cochin Hospital, directed by Professor B. Terris, is dedicated to cancer research in a wide range of pathologies: digestive, endocrine, gynaecological, bone and soft tissue, urological, haematological, dermatological and thoracic. This structure specialises in the reception, conservation, treatment and provision of normal and tumour tissue samples (biopsy or surgical), and their derivatives (DNA and RNA). The tumour bank has been certified since 2013, in accordance with the NF S96-900 biobank standard. Certification was maintained in December 2016. At the end of 2016, there were approximately 16,000 patients for whom samples had been stored in the Cochin tumour bank, i.e. approximately 30,000 cryopreserved samples, of which approximately 7,700 were dedicated to research. In addition, 5640 derivatives were processed and stored, of which 600 were used in research projects.
Created in 2006, the cell library (biological haematology department) of the Cochin hospital, directed by Professor M. Fontenay, contains 500 annotated frozen cell samples (in DMSO) and 1,000 DNA samples dedicated to research on myeloid malignancies.
The Necker Hospital biobank included in the CARPEM project is limited to hematological cancers in adults, as paediatric tumours, developmental and non-neoplastic (inflammatory …) pathologies are not part of the scope of CARPEM. The Necker Biological Resource Platform (PRB), coordinated by Dr M.A. Alyanakian, includes the tumor library, which mainly comprises the collections of the Biological Hematology (Pr Elizabeth Macintyre) and Pathological Anatomy and Cytology (Pr Jean-Christophe Fournet) departments, as well as the Histo-Embryology & Cytogenetics unit (Pr Michel Vekemans).
The recruitment of a biologist by CARPEM in 2017 allowed PRB to conduct a retrospective analysis (2011-2016). It focused on the informed consent associated with samples in three hematological cancers (at Necker and HEGP) for which numerous translational studies are performed. These three cancers are: mantle cell lymphoma, HTLV1-related adult T-cell leukemia, T-cell lymphoma associated with enteropathy). It showed that 100% of the consent statuses were accessible and that 48% were present for these three pathologies.
A public education campaign:
The patient has a central role in the sample donation process, and therefore in medical research. It is essential that the patient be aware of the major role they play in the storage of samples and data. To do this, it is essential that they understand the rules, limitations and issues surrounding this entire process. The agreement of free and informed consent must be better supported for the benefit of the patient. To this end, and in collaboration with graphic schools, two 3D / 2D animated films have been produced by CARPEM engineers, one of which is already being shown in the waiting rooms of the HEGP cancer centre: “We are all players in cancer research”. This educational campaign has already received two awards from the Ligue contre le Cancer – Comité de Paris and the Fondation Hôpitaux de Paris – Hôpitaux de France (MACSF Prize), which is helping CARPEM to develop fun, innovative information tools adapted to patients and professionals (websites, brochures, etc.) :
PRB-HEGP email address for patients: contactprb.hegp@aphp.fr
PRB-HEGP email address for professionals: prb.hegp@aphp.fr
A patient brochure and poster
A professional brochure
Here is one of the two videos made: