The Manitoba Breast Tumor Bank (MBTB) was established in 1993 with the support of the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) and a mandate to provide a national resource for a broad range of molecular research studies. The MBTB is now supported by CancerCare Manitoba, the University of Manitoba and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). 

Tissue samples are collected from unused material from breast surgical specimens after completion of the initial pathology diagnosis. The Bank organizes these unused breast tissues and the corresponding clinical information into anonymized ‘cases’ for both future research and clinical purposes. Tissue and data are stored under an anonymous MBTB number in CancerCare Manitoba. In some cases factors such as small tumor size or proximity of tumor margins preclude use of tissue by the bank. However the stock of the MBTB is over 5000 cases. Tissues are processed into the form of both paraffin and frozen tissue blocks. Tissue in these formats can then be re-sectioned and released when required to provide case material (in the form of thin 5-20 µm sections) with uniform histological and pathological assessment, and associated clinical and pathological data, to support research studies. 

The MBTB continues to be a central resource for the local Manitoba Breast Cancer Research Group. However the MBTB is also available to other research investigators, both nationally and internationally, subject to scientific and ethical review. Over more than a decade the MBTB has supported a range of projects undertaken by research investigators based within Manitoba (30%), elsewhere in Canada (50%), or in the USA and Europe (20%). These projects have involved the release of over 75,000 thin tissue sections (~80% frozen sections and 20% paraffin sections). In half of these studies the primary questions concerned the relation between expression of specific genes and breast cancer outcome and required cohorts of cases with clinical-pathological baseline, treatment, and clinical outcome data for analysis. In the other studies the primary questions related more to the relation between expression of specific genes and cell context (eg cell type, location, correlation with expression of other genes) to understand gene function in breast cells and required cohorts of cases with pathological and histological and cellular composition data.

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