King’s Health Partners’ Prostate Cancer Biobank (KHP PCaBB)

The KHP PCaBB was established in 2013 and recruits donors from the Urology or Oncology Departments at Guy’s Hospital in London (UK). Prostate cancer patients may be approached to give their consent for biobanking at any point in their treatment pathway, which allows residual material from their earlier diagnosis to be transferred and used by the Biobank. Currently, patients are specifically asked to donate samples of blood and surplus prostate tissue as well as permitting access to their clinical and pathological data that continues to be added throughout the course of their disease. Between 2013 and 2015, 549 prostate cancer patients gave their consent to the biobank and, the tissue repository collected 489 blood samples, 120 frozen prostate tissue samples and 1064 formalin fixed paraffin embedded diagnostic blocks. Prostate cancer has become a chronic disease in a large proportion of men, with many men receiving multiple subsequent treatments, and their treatment trajectory often spanning over decades. Therefore, this resource aims to provide an ideal research platform to explore potential variations in treatment response as well as disease markers in the different risk categories for prostate cancer. A recent audit of the KHP PCaBB revealed that between 2013 and 2015, 1796 patients were diagnosed with prostate cancer at King’s Health Partners (KHP), out of which 549 (30.6%) gave their consent to KHP PCaBB. Comparisons between demographic and clinical characteristics of patients who had consented compared to the total patient population revealed that the KHP PCaBB is demographically representative of the total prostate cancer patient population seen in Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT). We observed no differences in distribution of ethnicity (p = 0.507) and socioeconomic status (p = 0.097). Some differences were observed in clinical characteristics, specifically with treatment type – which differed significantly between the patients who had given consent and total patient population. The KHP PCaBB has thereby amassed a rich data and tissue repository that is largely reflective of both the demographic and clinical diversity within the total prostate cancer patient population seen at KHP, making it an ideal platform for prostate cancer research.