ON Biobank Overview
What is a Biobank?
The Oligo Nation (ON) Biobank is a centralized repository of tumor tissue and blood contributed by Oligo patients to help advance research. Some of this tissue will be used immediately to create cell lines and mouse models, the rest will be deposited in the ON Biobank. The biobank protects and preserves these samples and makes them available to qualified researchers interested in studying Oligo. The ON Biobank will also collect clinical information from Oligo patients to enable research into factors that affect treatment and outcomes.
Why should I Participate?
Medical research relies on tissue and models (cell line and mouse) from the disease being studied. Without them, the preclinical research—the first step in evaluating a new therapy—cannot be done.
There are currently very few cell lines and disease models of oligo, and this has to change. That’s where you come in. Oligo Nation has developed a comprehensive program to develop and distribute the building blocks for research to the medical community, but the starting point is getting tissue samples from Oligo patient surgeries.
As a biobank contributor you are directly helping us to increase research done on Oligo. It is important to understand that making a donation to the biobank in no way effects your care or any research that may go on at the hospital where your surgery is performed. We only request tissue that the hospital does not need and in most cases this valuable tissue would be discarded following surgery.
Will the Biobank Make a Difference?
We work with researchers every week. We fund oligodendroglioma research and reach out to researchers that are making new discoveries. These discoveries may offer promise for new Oligo treatments, but without the ability to test on Oligo cell lines and mouse models, there is no way to determine this. We often hear from leading brain cancer researchers that “I don’t do research on oligodendroglioma because there are no models to test therapies against.” This has to change!
And our biobank will completely change this. In two years’ time, there will be multiple cell lines and mouse models, a biospecimen bank, and many data sets and analysis that researchers around the world can easily access. We are working with some of the most innovative institutions in the U.S., with a proven record of success, for specific elements of this program.
The budget for this program will be quite large—in fact, we are seeking grants and other support right now. But, it will happen and, in fact, has already begun.
How Do I Participate?
It is pretty simple—contact us and let us know that you are interested. We will answer any questions and then ask you to review and sign our Consent Form that says you want some of your extra tumor tissue from surgery to be used for research. We will contact your surgeon and make the arrangements. We may also request blood samples to compare your normal cells to your oligodendroglioma cells.