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Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program

Mayo Clinic Biobank

Lead Contact and/or Principal Investigator (PI):

Funded Since: 2007
Funding Source: Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine
Year(s) of Enrollment: 2009-2016
Study Website: https://www.mayo.edu/research/centers-programs/mayo-clinic-biobank/overviewExternal Web Site Policy

The Mayo Clinic Biobank was established to provide a large group of patients from which comparison groups (i.e., controls) could be selected for case-control studies, to create a prospective cohort with sufficient power for common outcomes, and to support nested case-control studies with pre-disease specimens. Recruitment began in 2009 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In 2012, recruitment was expanded to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and in 2013, the Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Active invitations were mailed through December 31, 2015.

The Mayo Clinic Biobank recruited patients with upcoming medical appointments by mailing study invitations. Participants were actively recruited from primary care departments (76%), and specialty clinics including Orthopedics (10%), Executive Health (4%), Obstetrics/Gynecology (3%), Sports Medicine (1%), and the Breast Clinic (1%). We also allowed walk-in volunteers (5%). Eligibility criteria were few and included: Mayo Clinic patient, age 18 or older, current United States residence, and ability to give informed consent. Participants provided a blood sample from which DNA, serum, and plasma were derived. The majority of participant data is obtained from the associated Mayo Clinic electronic health records. Additionally, Biobank participants completed surveys at time of study entry (baseline) and again at 4 years post-enrollment. Survey response rates were 98% at baseline among participants and 74% at 4 years. Additional cross-sectional surveys are planned to collect data on recent diagnoses and exposures and lifestyle factors. Cancer incidence and mortality have been ascertained by linkage with the Mayo Clinic Tumor Registry and self-report.

A total of 57017 subjects have consented to the Biobank through April 2019. Of these, 15936 subjects were excluded as unlikely to receive continuous medical care at Mayo Clinic (i.e., “referral patients”). These included those who had not had Mayo Clinic visits in at least 3 out of 5 years prior to the Biobank consent or lived outside of the 26-country region of the Rochester Epidemiology Project [Rocca, 2012 #15] catchment area at time of consent). Of the 41,081 remaining, 10,367 had prior cancer from either self-report (9,419) or the Mayo Clinic Cancer Registry (7,624), leaving 30,774 cancer-free subjects in the Mayo Clinic Biobank. Among the 30,774 subjects who were cancer free at time of consent, a total of 2,665 incident cancers have developed.

The Mayo Clinic Biobank has served as a resource for over 280 studies. Numerous studies have used samples (DNA, serum, plasma) from the Biobank to provide controls for their disease-specific case-control studies. The Biobank has also been used for genotype-driven research, EHR-based studies, and as a source of cases of more common conditions.

Due to the specifics of the informed consent language, a Mayo Clinic researcher must be included as a collaborator on all projects using data or samples from the Mayo Clinic Biobank.

Last Updated: 14 Dec, 2021