Blood Bank

Vancouver Island blood bank could yield cancer clues and save lives

Posted on Sun, Mar 30, 2014 - 12:00am

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Photograph by: DARREN STONE, Times Colonist

Thousands of blood samples divided among freezers at the Deeley Research Centre in Victoria may hold the secrets to saving cancer patients’ lives.

The biobank, which holds samples donated by cancer patients before they begin treatment, is the first of its kind in Canada, according to the B.C. Cancer Agency.

It’s important study material for researchers looking for the determinants of cancer, said medical oncologist Dr. Nicol Macpherson. It may also help answer why some patients experience radiation burns, nausea and infection during treatment, while others don’t.