The National Virtual Tumour Bank (TVN)

Last updated on: 07/20/2010

INCa has developed a database to centralise standardised data on tumour samples collected at tumour banks for scientific purposes and display it on INCa’s website.

The purpose of this national tool, called the National Virtual Tumour Bank (TVN), is to provide visibility for and accessibility to the main national collections of samples established within the framework of specialised networks and consortiums, as well as national or international research programmes.

The minimum annotations recorded for each of the collections correspond to INCa’s national guidelines and are supplemented by specific annotations for each of the pathologies in question.

In July of 2010, INCa opened access to the TVN with the data from the lung cancer PNES programme.

The lung cancer PNES programme, which took on the challenge of analysing biomarkers in large biological sample series, was the pilot project for developing the TVN. A network of six tumour banks was established, with a view to cataloguing and making available all biological samples of sufficient size and quality, in line with the criteria defined by scientific projects. Under partnership agreements, more than 1600 biological samples have been made available to researchers and more than 4000 samples are currently catalogued in the TVN. The network is currently capable of accommodating collection of approximately 2000 new biological samples a year. This network now has substantial potential for international collaborations and for large-scale studies of the lung cancer genome.

Access to the TVN is now open to all related national networks and consortiums and will be implemented in collaboration with their scientific and institutional managers.

Contact: Angélique Michaut This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Read more about the lung cancer PNES programme