Led by Associate Professor Daniel Catchpoole, Tthe Tumour Bank of The Children's Hospital at Westmead is an invaluable resource for research into childhood cancer from around the world. Small tumour samples are collected with parents’ and patients’ permission during the normal course of patient management through the Hospital. These samples are de-identified, and used for research into the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancers.

Through an application process, we provide cancer researchers with a diverse selection of high quality tumour and bone marrow specimens, non-malignant tissue specimens, and clinical data obtained by dedicated tumour bank staff, who follow strict procedures and ethical guidelines to protect the patient donors.

The Tumour Bank was established in 1998 as the first ‘biobanking’ facility in Australia dealing exclusively with paediatric cancer.

It now stores up to 30,000 tissue specimens which have been donated by over 3,200 patients. To date it has supported over 90 research studies around the world.