The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation is excited to be working with Pattern.org to empower patients to direct their excess cancer tissue samples to research projects. Initially, samples donated via Pattern.org will be sent to the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (www.broadinstitute.org), where they will be used to attempt to develop research models.
The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation’s partnership with Pattern.org and the Broad Institute is part of a larger effort to establish and genetically characterize cancer cell lines, which are cancer cells that keep dividing and growing over time, under certain conditions in a laboratory. In developing these cancer cell lines, the Broad Institute is trying to enable the scientific community to improve our understanding of cancer, including neuroendocrine tumors.
The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation is engaging its patient community to directly donate tissue samples through Pattern.org. This website contains information about research projects that Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation is supporting. Pattern.org links to an electronic consent form where patients can learn more about projects, find contact information for the protocol team at the Broad Institute so they can reach out should they have questions, and provide consent if they wish to contribute. Should a patient decide to provide consent, Pattern.org arranges for excess tissue to be shipped to a research lab.
NETRF and Pattern.org are working to be the bridge between patients and researchers. In choosing to donate tissue, patients and their communities become partners in research, helping investigators like those at the Broad Institute to study cancer.
If you or a patient you know has an upcoming surgery, you can visit Pattern.org to learn more about the project.
If you wish to learn more about the Cancer Cell Line Project from the Broad Institute directly, you can email them at cellproject@broadinstitute.org