Banque de cellules leucémiques du Québec, Canada

Certification Status: Approved
Registration Status: Completed

Objective: The Quebec Leukemia Cell Bank (BCLQ, www.bclq.org) is a provincial program funded by the Cancer Research Network of the Fonds de la Recherche du Québec en Santé (FRQS). It groups together hematologists, researchers and clinical scientists from Quebec universities (including Université Laval, McGill, Sherbrooke, Montréal) and affiliated research centers. The cell bank has been in operation since 2001.The primary objective of the Quebec Leukemia Cell Bank is to support basic, translational and clinical research in hematological cancers. This infrastructure also provides services in cancer cytogenetics and a training program in leukemia and cancer cytogenetics. Blood tumors studied include mostly acute and chronic leukemias but also myelodysplastic syndromes, myelomas, and lymphoproliferative syndromes. These specimens are characterized by morphology, cytochemistry, immunonophenotyping (by flow cytometry), cytogenetics (G-banding and FISH), and are cryopreserved to allow for highly specialized studies. The normal DNA extracted from buccal swabs or saliva is preserved for each sample stored in the bank. Data including all laboratory tests and clinical parameters for each sample are indexed in a computerized databank. The cell bank receives annually 200 specimens of malignant blood diseases from ten university and regional hospitals. To date, more than 1500 samples of hematologic cancers have been collected with informed consent. The Scientific Committee evaluates applications for samples submitted to the Quebec Leukemia Cell Bank. Since opening to researchers in 2003, approximately 15-20 research projects per year and several researchers have benefited from this infrastructure.

Registered Biobank Name Banque de cellules leucémiques du Québec (BCLQ)
Biobank Leader Claude Rondeau
Country Canada
Email for biobank inquiries crondeau.hmr@ssss.gouv.qc.ca
Principal Investigator Dr Josée Hébert
Website www.bclq.org
User Type
  • Mono: A biobank that supports a specific research project, may have few staff members, a small-scale accrual scope with little to no initial intention of releasing or distributing biospecimens to secondary parties
  • Oligo: A biobank that supports several research groups or clinical trials, may or may not be designed to release biospecimens outside their collaborative group
  • Poly: A biobank that has generally a larger accrual scope, resources, and multiple users outside the biobank proper
Poly - Collection aimed at supporting undetermined, multiple users with ethics approved research projects, through a defined access/application mechanism.
Biospecimen Collected: