Brain Tumour Tissue Bank
Your dollars at work: Funding research into a cure
Hope for a cure for brain tumours starts with research. That’s why the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada funds the Brain Tumour Tissue Bank in London Ontario, one of the only facilities in the world that provides the raw materials essential for basic research.
The Brain Tumour Tissue Bank collects, processes and catalogues brain tumour tissue samples and ships  them across Canada and around the world. Over 1,000 cases have been catalogued since the tissue bank opened in 1991, resulting in a "library" of several thousand frozen brain tumor specimens. "Whenever I tell people about what I do, they find it very interesting" says Marcela White, lab technologist at the Brain Tumour Tissue Bank. "Most people don’t realize that this type of facility exists."
A typical day includes a visit to the operating room to collect tissue samples at the time of tumour removal. Brain tumour samples are immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen. Each frozen specimen has a matching piece of tumour that is processed and later cut onto a slide for quality control. Rigorous quality assurance procedures ensure scientific quality.
The anonymous brain tumor tissue samples are then coded by number and tracked in a comprehensive database. This level of detail allows Marcela to meet very specific requests from researchers for tumour type, grade, characteristics and even location.
The Brain Tumour Tissue Bank is housed in the state-of-the-art facilities at University Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre. Their location is close to surgery, making it much more efficient for Marcela to gather tissue samples and process them quickly.
"Our brain tumour tissue samples have been instrumental in most of the recent breakthroughs in brain tumour research and treatment," says Dr. Joseph Megyesi, neurosurgeon. "Quality samples are the basic building blocks of good science."
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À 2003 Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada 1.800.265.5106
Charitable Registration #BN118816339RR0001 |