Finnish Clinical Biobank Tampere (FCBT) sample collections

Finnish Clinical Biobank Tampere collects a wide and varied selection of sample types for the purposes of biomedical research and product development.

The various quality samples available from Biobank are listed below with detailed information. Sample materials can also be found in the Fingenious cohorts app on the fingenious.fi website.

1. Blood samples (EDTA whole blood, serum, EDTA plasma)

N = 51,000 persons from 2016 to 2023.

• The collection of blood samples can be divided, among other things, in accordance with various diagnostic criteria.
• Blood samples collected during the maternity and child health clinic collection have been from 4,500 persons. The samples were collected from expectant mothers during the first trimester of pregnancy. Some of the people are first-time mothers and some have already given birth, so the same person may have several biobank samples.
• Samples for underage children are by 50 from various persons.
• serum and plasma samples have been collected using the cold chain i.e. they have been stored and processed in +4 ℃ from collection to storage. 
• Serum and EDTA plasma samples are divided into four sublots of 300-450 µl. The aliquots of the samples are first stored at -75 ℃ and long-term storage takes place in liquid nitrogen tanks at -196 ℃ temperature.
• EDTA whole blood samples that have been stored as whole blood are approximately 16,000  from different persons. The sample has been transferred into one sublot tube with a volume of between 800 µl and 2,700 µl. The samples are first stored in -75 ℃ and long-term storage takes place in liquid nitrogen tanks (-196 ℃).
• Some EDTA whole blood samples have been selected for DNA isolation. At the moment, there are approximately 36,000 isolated DNA samples from various individuals. DNA is extracted from a frozen sample. The isolated samples consist of a so-called stock tube of concentrated DNA (volume 270-320 µl) and 1-3 subtubes of normalised DNA (50 ng/µl), volumes 80-500 µl.

2. Fresh tissue samples

Frozen fresh samples of various cancer types are from approximately 900 patients. A high-quality collection of fresh tissue that has been instantly frozen fresh in isopentane and then under controlled conditions at -75 ℃.

The cold ischemia time of the samples is routinely monitored and their representativeness is confirmed by a pathologist. Samples are collected in specialized fields of gastroenterology, gynaecology, urology and breast cancer. Particularly extensive collections of fresh tissue have been collected in the specialties of urology and breast cancer.

• Gastroenterology, approximately 100 fresh tissue samples
• Gynaecology, approximately 100 fresh tissue samples
• Urology, about 350 samples of fresh tissue
• Breast cancer, about 250 fresh tissue samples

3. ctDNA samples

N = about 2,000 from different people

ctDNA samples are fluid biopsy blood samples collected from cancer patients in connection with the collection of a fresh tissue sample. Two plasma sublots and two sublots with buffycoat and red cell fraction are separated from the sample. The samples were collected prior to surgery, leaving cancer-specific somatic mutations and epigenetic changes in the patient's blood. the ctDNA plasma sample has a volume of approximately 4-4.5 ml. 

As a research-specific collection, it is also possible to collect a ctDNA2 sample after the operation, for example in connection with follow-up blood tests after the operation, at different time points. This makes it possible to examine the response to treatment in the patient's blood.  

4. Likvor samples

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples collected in connection with diagnostics. There are approximately 200 samples from various individuals. Serum samples have also been collected during the likvor collection and a total of 1,100 have been from a variety of persons. The samples have been stored at -75 ℃ first. The samples are melted in +4 ℃, divided into sublots (200-450 µl volume) and re-frozen to -75 ℃.

5. FFPE tissue blocks

The collection contains more than 400 000 of Pirha pathology diagnostic tissue samples forming more than 3.4 million samples. The samples are tissue samples cast into paraffin and have been collected since 1963. About 8 per cent (270,000 samples) of these samples are cancer samples.

from 01/01/1963 until 31/08/2013, the PSHP diagnostic tissue sample collection was almost entirely transferred to Biobank through a public notification. Samples collected from the entry into force of the Biobank Act (1 September 2013) are available based on Biobank consent. The samples have been archived in accordance with the conditions they require, i.e. at dry and room temperature, in accordance with the Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa and Fimlab pathology diagnostic requirements.

6. Genetic sample collection

The collection contains diagnostic blood, cell and tissue samples from about 10,000 people, a total of about 30,000 samples.

Sample types: bone marrow, blood, amniotic fluid, placenta, tissue, tumor.

Sample formats and storage temperatures: DNA (-80 °C), RNA (-80 °C), mononuclear cells (i.e. PBMC) (-80 °C), pieces of tissue (-80 °C), cultured cells (-196 °C)

The samples were collected between 01/01/1990 and 31/08/2013, and the collection will be gradually transferred to the Biobank by 2025.