During surgery, your urologist will remove some tissue as part of your routine treatment/diagnosis and the results of pathology tests on this tissue will be used to plan your care. Generally not all the removed tissue is needed for diagnosis and it is this ‘left over’ tissue that we invite you to donate. The amount stored will depend on how much is available.
We would also like to obtain a blood sample (20-25mls, or 2-3 tubes) to match with the tissue. After collection, the samples undergo an initial processing, and then the components will be stored frozen to allow future research to be undertaken.
You can donate a blood sample to the Tissue Bank even if you are not donating tissue. If you consent to have a blood sample collected it will be done prior to your surgery or at a time that is convenient to you, for example, when you are having other routine tests.
Posted in: FAQs for Donors