Tissue Bank Seasonal Shipment Notice

Shipment of Specimens for Banking + Kit Supply

To all centres participating on trials where frozen fluids (blood, serum, plasma, urine, etc.) and formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues (FFPE tumour blocks, slides, etc.) are collected and banked at the CCTG Tissue Bank:

• Please do not ship any frozen specimens or FFPE tissues between December 17, 2025, and January 5, 2026, inclusive, as our tissue bank and all its affiliated laboratory facilities will be suspending their activity and will not be able to receive or process any specimens.
• Please store specimens at the appropriate temperatures until you resume your regular shipping schedule on January 5th, 2026.

To all centres participating in trials were circulating tumour cells (CTC) (Streck Tubes) and other ambient specimens are collected for immediate processing:

• Please note the laboratories analyzing these specimens are requesting samples arrive before December 18th, 2025, or after January 2, 2026.
• Any CTC or other ambient specimen sampling that would normally be scheduled during this period should instead be performed up to 2 weeks before or after the planned date (i.e. at a convenient time for patients and clinical team).
• If this is not possible, collect the blood in Streck tubes as close to January 5th, 2026 as possible and ship it out on January 5th, 2026.  If you require a waybill please request it on January 5th, 2026. 

To all centres requiring kits:

• Any urgent orders for blood collection kit resupply should be placed prior to December 17, 2025, with ordering commencing on January 5th, 2026.
• Please order kits ONLY if your inventory is low and/or if your kits are expiring during this time, to avoid overstocking and therefore help to reduce wastage.