Genitourinary Cancer Treatment Center

As a Dana-Farber patient, you may be asked to participate in a research study designed to help doctors and scientists understand the basic biology and genetics of prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer, which ultimately may help people in the future.

During your appointment, a study coordinator will meet with you to discuss the study and answer your questions. Your participation is completely voluntary and will not affect your medical care or benefits should you decide not to participate.

What is the purpose of the study?

• To obtain tissue and blood specimens from patients with prostate, bladder, or kidney cancer so that we may create a bank of specimens supporting genitourinary cancer research.
• To use this tissue and blood to study the DNA, RNA, and proteins found in prostate, bladder, and kidney tumors and in normal prostate, bladder, and kidney tissue.

When will specimens be taken from me?

• Blood will be drawn at the same time as routine blood draws. You will be asked however, to undergo an additional blood draw if samples cannot be drawn at that time. This will be done during a scheduled appointment and will not require an additional visit.
• If surgery is part of your treatment, tissue that otherwise would be discarded will be frozen and placed in a specimen bank. You are not being asked to undergo a separate procedure for this tissue collection. 

What do I have to do?

You can decide to what extent you would like to participate in the study. You will be asked for your permission:

• To store your tissue and blood samples collected during routine clinical care in a prostate tissue and blood bank for purposes of prostate cancer research.
• To store your tissue and blood samples collected during routine clinical care in a kidney tissue and blood bank for purposes of renal cancer research.
• To store your tissue and blood samples collected during routine clinical care in a bladder tissue and blood bank for purposes of renal cancer research.
• For study staff to retrieve relevant clinical information from your medical records in a confidential manner. This will help us to better understand the importance of the results of the research done on these tissues. Your information will be kept in a password-protected database, accessible by a limited number of study coordinators.
• To have an additional blood sample drawn if blood cannot be obtained at the same time as routine blood tests.
• For study coordinators to contact you or your family about your current health status.

If you have any questions or concerns, or would prefer not to be approached about participating, please do not hesitate to call us at 617-582-8313.

How can I learn more about tissue storage?

Read about tissue banking and how it can help cancer research.

Watch the video below: Tissue Banking: Advancing Cancer Care