U.S. National Cancer Institute Establishes Biobank For HIV Malignancy Research in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Sub-Saharan Africa Regional #Biorepository aims to collect proactively, manage and process biospecimens representing both #AIDS-defining cancers (e.g., Kaposi’s sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, cervical cancer) and non-AIDS-defining cancers (e.g., lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer), as well as associated clinical data. The biobank established in the Division of Anatomical Pathology, National Health Laboratory Service (#NHLS), at Tygerberg Academic Hospital, a teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest incidences of #HIV infection in the world. Despite improved life expectancy from increased access to antiretroviral therapy, the region will most likely see an increase in HIV-associated cancers, as is currently the case in many developed countries. The researchers hope collected biological samples will help to speed up HIV malignancy research.

The long-term plans of the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Biorepository include collecting specimens from other sites in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces as well as the rest of South Africa, and eventually all of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a resource that will benefit researchers, patients and communities in Africa. Through collaboration, the biobank will also develop unique specimen collections and clinical data sets to promote multi-institutional collaborative research in HIV-related #cancers.