Tumor tissue donation: Should you consent?

Hi,

I have been doing some volunteer work at my cancer center during the past year. It doesn't involve a lot of time, maybe one to two days per month. But, I love the work. Most recently, I helped them review their tumor tissue acquisition process. My role in this was to provide a patient perspective on their process.

The cancer center published an entry on their Cancerwise blog website yesterday. Hopefully, this entry provides some insight into why donating a tumor tissue sample, whether for personalized cancer treatment or for the advancement on the science of curing cancer, is something one should consider if asked.

A link to that blog entry is as follows:

http://www2.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/2012/05/tumor-tissue-donation-should-you-consent.html

By the way, I do draft these articles, but the communications staff at the cancer center adds a touch to them that I really admire. I'd like to thank the MD Anderson Communications staff for their thoughtful additions and edits.

Regards,
Ed Steger