Chernobyl Tissue Bank (CTB)
Overview
The Chernobyl (Chornobyl in Ukrainian) Tissue Bank (CTB) was established in October of 1998 as a resource to collect, document, store, and issue to bona fide researchers, biological samples donated by patients with thyroid tumors who live in the vicinity of the site of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
The CTB is a unique international cooperation that seeks to establish a collection of biological samples from tumors and normal tissues from patients with a known exposure to radioiodine in childhood.
Project Team
NCI/DCEG
Lindsay Morton, Ph.D., Branch Director, Radiation Epidemiology Branch (REB), principal investigator
Vibha Vij, Ph.D., staff scientist, REB, project manager
Collaborating Institutions
V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine
Background & Purpose
The CTB is a unique international cooperation that seeks to establish a collection of biological samples from tumors and normal tissues from patients with a known exposure to radioiodine in childhood.
The project, which started in October 1998, was historically supported by the European Commission, the World Health Organization, the NCI, and the Sasakawa Health Foundation of Japan (SHF), and coordinated by Imperial College London (ICL). The resource was transferred to the NCI in 2023 following the retirement of the former Project Director at ICL.
Visit the Chernobyl Tissue Bank website.
See DCEG research on:
Study Results & Select Publications
International Research Teams Explore Genetic Effects of Chernobyl Radiation
NCI investigators used cutting-edge genomic tools to investigate the potential health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation. One study found no evidence that radiation exposure to parents resulted in new genetic changes being passed from parent to child. The second study documented the genetic changes in the tumors of people who developed thyroid cancer after being exposed as children or fetuses to the radiation released by the accident.
Data Sharing
Researchers wishing to use the materials in the CTB should register with the CTB Biosample Search to access a comprehensive database of available samples and to submit an application to access the tissue bank. The biomaterials and research data in the CTB are available to researchers of approved projects anywhere in the world.