Welcome
The Victorian Cancer Biobank (VCB) consortium provides a coordinated and integrated program that collects and distributes tissue samples to support cancer research in Victoria, Australia and throughout the world with the aim of delivering better clinical outcomes to people with cancer.
Since operations commenced in 2006, more than 34,000 Victorians undergoing cancer and other surgery have donated blood and surplus tissue to the Biobank. Applications have been received from more than 220 cancer research groups located within Australia and overseas and more than 50,000 biospecimens prepared from donated blood and tissues have been supplied with de-identified medical information.
The VCB is now one of the largest multi-centre collection facilities of its kind in the world, collecting tissue and blood from donors at 26 public and private hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne. In addition, we support training of molecular pathologists to improve skills and knowledge in the use of targeted therapies in cancer management.
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How to order specimens

For a detailed sample search report customized to your research needs, please provide us with:
- Disease site(s) of interest;
- Number of fresh frozen and/or paraffin embedded tissue samples required;
- Sample types needed – tumour, matching normal, blood (serum, plasma, , buffy etc);
- Any additional services – RNA extraction, DNA extraction, tissue microarray construction;
- Inclusion/exclusion criteria.
Please email the VCB Project Manager at VCBEnquiries@cancervic.org.au to determine if the VCB can provide you with your research needs.
You will be required to complete and submit the following form:
- Form A: General Application
- Form B: Application for Biospecimens or Services
- We also recommend you read the following: VCB How to Apply and Conditions of Use
Coupled with Application Form A and Application for Biospecimens or Services (Form B), you will also be required to submit the following documentation to complete the application:
- Curriculum vitae of Principle Investigator (no longer than 2 pages)
- HREC (NEAF or equivalent) approval and amendment letters
- Complete HREC (NEAF or equivalent) application document
The VCB is committed to customer service and aims to achieve Access Committee review and approval within 5-7 business days.
Upon approval, your project will commence! Any subsequent de-identified clinical data will be securely transferred to you and samples will be shipped expeditiously.
You can find more details by accessing the following: Specimen Sample Request Procedure (coming soon).
Certified by
Since November 12 2020, the VCB consortium achieved international biobanking certification from the Canadian Tissue Repository Network (CTRNet). CTRNet certification is an internationally recognised certification available to biobanks who successfully demonstrate operations that align with biobanking best practices. All VCB staff successfully completed biobanking best practice education modules and essential biobank processes/documents have been aligned towards international best practice standards.