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Tumor Tissue Donation

Speed up the search for cures with your tumor tissue donation 

How Tumor Tissue Helps us Discover New Treatments 

Researchers rely on fresh samples of neuroendocrine tumor (NET) tissue to understand the causes of NETs and to explore new treatments.  From donated tumor tissue, researchers isolate and grow NET cells in dishes (called cell lines) for laboratory study.

Unfortunately, there are not enough NET cell lines for researchers to use

Some NET cells grow very slowly or not at all in the lab. The lack of NET cell lines slows important NET research. The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) has teamed up with Pattern.org to solve this decades-old problem and we need your help.  

Explore tumor tissue donation in advance of an upcoming surgery. It’s free, easy, confidential, and has no effect on your clinical care.

To fuel this program, we need fresh tumor tissue samples, from many different people—people with different types of NETs, treatment histories,  and backgrounds. The more tissue sample donations we receive, the better our chance of finding answers for the questions holding back NET research. Learn how you can help.

How to donate excess fresh NET tissue

  1. Visit Pattern.org to learn about NET tissue (or fluid) donation.
  2. Register and provide your consent.
  3. Pattern.org will work with your doctor to collect excess tissue (or fluid) from surgery not needed for your care.
  4. Your tumor tissue (or fluid) will be sent to the laboratory to be grown into cell lines and, if successful, shared with scientists throughout the world.

FAQs

Still not sure? We want to make sure all your questions are answered. Check out the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about NET tissue donation. 

Why donate tumor tissue? 

Tumor tissue is the key to answering essential questions about NETs.

  • How do NETs form?
  • How do NETs spread?
  • How can we interrupt the cell lifecycle to slow to stop NETs?
  • What treatments might help us do that?
  • Do these treatments work?
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Samples of excess tumor tissue is sent to the cell line factory
Tumor tissue is grown and made available to researchers throughout the world
Researchers study the NET cell line’s DNA and RNA
Data patterns will reveal possible drug targets
Potential treatments are tested on the NET cell line
Promising treatments undergo further testing
Validation and clinical trials may lead to new, more effective treatments for patients