Information for Patients

Reagents on a laboratory shelf

If you are attending one of our collection sites to have samples taken, which is part of your routine treatment, you may be approached to also give your consent to donate samples to the MCRC Biobank. The consent may be taken by one of our Biobank Technicians or by one of your doctors or nurses.

Biobank Consent Process

In addition to consent in person, we have also recently been taking consent via the post and over the phone due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is useful for us to access any leftover samples that have been taken during the course of your treatment or to reduce the need for us to see you face to face when you come on site.

Giving consent to the Biobank is completely optional. You can also decide what sort of research you give your consent to and which samples you would like to donate.

If you decline consent, this will not impact your treatment and there is also a consent withdrawal process for those who change their minds.

We have different patient information sheets and consent forms depending on your diagnosis – if you have a solid tumour diagnosis or you are having non-cancer surgery (we need non-cancer tissue too!) then you will sign our solid tumour/tissue consent form. If you have a blood disorder then you will consent to the heamtological malignancy arm of the biobank. You can find out forms linked below.

Patient information sheet - Solid tumours and non-cancer patients (PDF, 767 KB)

Patient information sheet - blood disorders (PDF, 794 KB)

Patient consent form - Solid tumours and non-cancer patients (PDF, 746 KB)

Patient consent form - blood disorders (PDF, 759 KB)

About the MCRC Biobank

Established in 2008, the MCRC Biobank has transformed the way biological samples are collected and supplied for ground-breaking cancer research projects within the Manchester Cancer Research Centre and beyond.

Accessing the MCRC Biobank

The MCRC Biobank is licensed by the Human Tissue Authority and has been ethically approved as a research tissue bank by the South Manchester Research Ethics Committee.

Human Tissue Governance

In addition to collecting samples for research, the MCRC Biobank also houses the Human Tissue Governance Team who look after all the regulatory compliance for use of human tissue in research.

Contact the MCRC Biobank