King Hussein Cancer Center announces the launch of the establishment of the first BIO Bank (KHCCBIO) in Jordan

Today Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Sarhan, Director General of King Hussein Cancer Center announced the launch of the project of establishing the first bio bank (KHCCBIO) in Jordan sponsored partially by the European Union, which will be the first of its kind in Jordan and the region. Prof. Sarhan further stated that the importance of this project was to pursue the global trend in conducting research on cancer and in finding effective treatment methods by implementing the personalized medicine approach. This pursuit is also in line with the vision and efforts of Her Royal Highness Princess Ghida Talal, head of the board of Trustees of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation in efforts to adopt and apply the principle of personalized medicine in treating cancer patients at KHCC.

Furthermore, Dr. Sarhan declared that personalized medicine depends on the utilization of an individualized treatment protocol designed for every patient separately, depending on the data collected for this particular patient and the nature of his/her genetic makeup in order for the treatment to have targeted effect on the cancer alone without affecting normal nearby healthy tissues and with fewer side effects, which leads to improved health care and treatment provided to cancer patients. He also added that this Bio bank is expected to officially start operating next year.

Moreover, Dr. Maher Sughayer, the Director of Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at King Hussein Cancer Center and the Coordinator of this project, clarified that the King Hussein Cancer Center, and in view of his distinguished position among cancer centers in the world, has won the confidence of the European Union as the coordinator of a grant estimated around (550,000) thousand Euros, which is part of the total cost of the project of establishing a Bio bank for cancer tissue in Jordan.

 This grant will enable KHCC-EU partners from Ireland and Switzerland to contribute to the development of the policies and procedures for the establishment of the Tissue Bank (KHCCBIO) as well as the training of pathologists and laboratory technologists on how to collect and store excess cancer tissue extracted from patients according to ISO quality international standards to be further used in personalized medicine research. A three day-workshop organized by King Hussein Cancer Center is held to set the road map for laying the foundation for the establishment of the first tissue bank in Jordan and the region as well as to design the training plan.

Furthermore, Dr. Maher Sughayer pointed out that the analysis and study of such samples would be capable of supporting the diagnosis of the cancer and gives a clearer picture of the disease stages and predictability of progression that may occur to the situation in the future. Moreover, it is envisioned that this tissue bank will be a gateway to collaborate with other clinical and research centers both locally and globally, in order to improve the health and safety of the patient through receiving the optimal treatment.

In addition, Dr. Lina Souan, the head of the clinical Immunology Laboratory at King Hussein Cancer Center explained that the purpose of establishing the bank is to take the surplus-cancer tissue collected from patients after filling a consent form, process it and store it according to the highest standards of ISO-accredited quality protocols. Thereafter, this tissue will be used in clinical research studies aiming for personalized medicine without exposing the patient’s confidential information.

Dr. Souan further noted that the tissue bank which will be called “KHCCBIO” will be equipped with the latest equipment and devices necessary for the best quality performance in order to help conduct research studies aimed towards personalized medicine which will be able to reduce the negative effects and conclusively determine the receptiveness of the patient's response to the cancer treatment and prevention of cancer relapse. Moreover, KHCCBIO will be able to support studies designed to explore the environmental and genetic factors that influence the occurrence and development of cancer and its patterns of spread and linking these changes with the habits of peoples such as the patterns of smoking and bad dietary habits as well as the lack of practices of sports and changes in other aspects of life which may increase the incidence of cancer disease in the future.