Nigeria is targeting the collection and cataloguing of 100,000 cancer biospecimens by 2028 under a national initiative aimed at strengthening cancer research, improving precision oncology and expanding the country’s contribution to global scientific discoveries.
The initiative, known as the National Cancer Biobank Network, is being implemented through a partnership between health data infrastructure company BioVana and the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment.
The network currently comprises eight federal hospitals spread across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. Its initial phase will focus on recruiting and cataloguing 10,000 cancer samples before scaling up to the 100,000-sample target.
The implementation builds on a memorandum of understanding involving BioVana and NICRAT in 2025 and represents a major step towards establishing a coordinated national infrastructure for cancer research.
Under the partnership, NICRAT provides national leadership, institutional coordination and general oversight, while BioVana is responsible for the technical implementation, including digital infrastructure development, harmonisation of sample collection and data management standards, capacity building and the establishment of research-ready systems across participating hospitals.
Commenting on the importance of the initiative, BioVana’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Estelle Dogbo, said Nigeria possessed considerable cancer research resources across various institutions, but bringing them together would enhance their value and impact.
Dogbo added that the initiative could provide a model for building coordinated biomedical research infrastructure across Africa.
Nigeria continues to face a significant cancer burden. Estimates from the Global Cancer Observatory indicate that the country recorded more than 152,000 new cancer cases and over 90,000 cancer-related deaths in 2024.
The NCBN is expected to improve access to well-characterised cancer samples and associated clinical data through a shared system of standards and governance.
By connecting participating institutions, the network will make it easier for researchers to undertake larger, multi-centre studies, support biomarker discovery, develop diagnostics and advance precision oncology research relevant to Nigerian patients.
The initiative has also received support from international organisations, including the World Health Organisation and the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories.
Following initial assessments of participating hospitals and a stakeholders’ workshop involving representatives of both organisations, implementation is progressing towards harmonised biobanking procedures and common data and quality standards.
Director-General of NICRAT, professor Aliyu Usman, said the initiative was part of a broader ambition to establish a sustainable national cancer research infrastructure.
He explained that the network would support NICRAT’s longer-term vision of establishing a central national cancer biobank backed by participating institutions across the country.
President of ISBER, Dr Stella Somiari, described the network as an important development in ensuring that African populations contribute to and benefit from advances in precision oncology.
She stressed that high-quality biobanking practices were essential for building reliable research partnerships and protecting the interests of research participants and communities.
She added that collecting Nigerian biospecimens and associated data using consistent standards would enable local researchers to participate more effectively in international scientific collaborations.
Similarly, Group Head of Laboratory Support, Biobanking and Services at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a specialised agency of WHO, Dr Zisis Kozlakidis, said connected research infrastructure was essential to making global cancer research more representative.
According to Kozlakidis, the NCBN could help ensure that high-quality samples and data from African populations contribute meaningfully to scientific discovery.
The urgency of the initiative is further underscored by the growing cancer burden across Africa. Africa Cancer Control Partners estimates that more than one million new cancer cases were reported across the continent in 2020, with the figure projected to reach two million over the following 15 years.
BioVana, founded in 2025 by Estelle Dogbo and Dr Jumi Popoola, is focused on developing infrastructure that connects African research institutions with the global scientific community. Its work aims to enable locally generated biomedical data to contribute to drug discovery and address the under-representation of African populations in global biomedical research.
The next phase of the NCBN implementation will focus on strengthening capacity across the eight participating federal hospitals, harmonising biobanking procedures, introducing common data and quality standards, and recruiting the first 10,000 cancer biospecimens.
