The Cancer Human Biobank (caHUB)

The Cancer Human Biobank (caHUB) is a BBRB derived program that carries out specialized biospecimen and data procurements to support biospecimen science activities. The caHUB network consists of the following components:

Biospecimen Source Sites (BSSs) are organizations, such as academic medical centers, rapid autopsy centers, and organ procurement organizations, that obtain patient consent, acquire specimens, and ship them to one of a number of program sites.
The Comprehensive Biospecimen Resource (CBR) is a centralized site that assembles collection and shipping kits, receives most biospecimens from the BSSs for processing and storage, and ships biospecimens from the BSSs to the processing and analysis facilities. The CBR also generates H&E sections from FFPE blocks and produces digital images of these sections.
The Comprehensive Data Resource (CDR) is a centralized data storage facility that obtains patient and specimen data from BSSs and other program sites that handle and analyze samples.
The Pathology Resource Center (PRC) is a network of board certified pathologists who review H&E sections from caHUB collected specimens as a quality control measure and also provide technical direction for caHUB biospecimen collections.
Molecular Analysis Facilities (MAFs) carry out molecular analysis on caHUB collected specimens. MAFs can be individuals or organizations from government, academia, or private industry entities.

caHUB program operations include quality management, logistics, procurement, and data analysis and require hundreds of standard operating procedures. All procurements occur within a stringent ethical, legal, and regulatory framework. The diagram below shows the flow of biospecimens and data through the caHUB’s infrastructure. caHUB core functions are carried out by a cross functional team from NCI, SAIC-F and subcontractors from well recognized medical and research facilities.

The flow of biospecimens and data through the caHUB?s infrastructure