The VCB specialises in the ethical 
procurement, processing, preservation and distribution of clinical grade biospecimens for research purposes that meet or exceed biobanking best practices, to ensure validation through standardisation, documentation and quality management. This includes the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and ISBER best practice guidelines.
The VCB consortium is also certified by the Canadian Tissue Repository Network (CTRNet), an international quality assurance program.
Cancer is a significant global health challenge As one of the largest open access cancer biobanks in Australia, the VCB is critical in supporting the work of local, national and international scientists and researchers.
We operate as a collaborative consortium to provide centralised bio-specimen access to expedite the translation of research into improved cancer outcomes. We also provide on-demand clinical data to research projects with linkage to the Victorian Cancer Registry, including clinical follow-up and outcome information for the past 10 years.
Learn more about our impact.
Operating as a hub-and-spoke collection model with a centralised database across Victoria, our success is driven by our collaboration with local pathologists, medical oncologists, surgeons and other critical hospital personnel.
We operate in a harmonised workflow across our partner hospitals, to obtain consent from potential donors, sample collections, and process, store and distribute high-quality biospecimens.
Our focus is on collecting surplus surgical tissues and pre-operative blood samples. Other bespoke collections may be serviced subject to capabilities, such as tissue biopsy or blood during a colonoscopy. In most cases, solid tissue samples are processed or distributed within an hour of collection, while blood samples are processed and stored or distributed within two hours of collection.