Tumor, Tissue and Serum Biorepository
Southwest Georgians undergoing cancer treatment have a unique opportunity to help fight the disease.
Through a partnership with the Georgia Cancer Coalition, the Medical College of Georgia and the Southwest Georgia Cancer Coalition, cancer patients undergoing surgery at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital can consent to donate a small part of their cancerous tissue to the statewide Tissue Bank. South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta will join as a collection site in 2010, and we anticipate Tift Regional Medical Center will be a participating hospital in the future. John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville served as a collection site from 2006 to 2009.
Tissue collected at the site is sent to the central statewide biorepository housed at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. The value of regional collection sites is to have samples from people in our area available for further research that can ultimately lead to improved cancer care in southwest Georgia and across the state.
There is no cost to cancer patients who wish to participate in this study. After a tumor is removed from a patient during surgery, leftover tissue that would otherwise be discarded is sent to the statewide biorepository to use for research.
The currently active and former collection site in Albany and Thomasville, respectively, and anticipated future sites in Tifton and Valdosta, will strengthen the statewide program to benefit all Georgians and contribute to significant advances in cancer research.
