Ontario Tumour Bank (OTB)

London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is home to one of four Ontario Tumour Bank (OTB) sites across the province. OTB is one of the largest cancer biorepositories in Canada, focusing on providing researchers with high-quality tumour-related biospecimens and derivatives, comprehensively annotated with de-identified clinical data.  With over one hundred thousand samples in inventory from over 18,000 consented patients, OTB is integral in groundbreaking cancer research in Canada and around the world. 

At each OTB site, dedicated staff members collect samples and clinical data from consenting donors while following a strict set of procedures and guidelines. Both cancerous and adjacent-normal tissue is collected, in addition to matched blood samples, offering researchers everything they need to analyze a patients’ tumour. Researchers are able to request data by specific criteria or simply by tumour type, depending on the nature of their research. To assist researchers further, samples can also be provided as derivatives, such as quantified/qualified RNA or DNA, or tissue microarrays. 

Access fees are deeply subsidized for all Ontario researchers. With LHSC being home to one of four OTB sites, access fees for researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute are further subsidized. Access fees vary depending on the type of specimen preparation, depth of clinical data required, and the category of researcher (e.g., commercial vs. academic, local vs. international).

Please contact the Ontario Tumour Bank directly at @email for further details and/or a quote customized to your research needs.

OTB is a program of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR). Funded by the Government of Ontario, OICR is a not-for-profit organization that supports research on the prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and control of cancer.