For Immediate Release
November 7, 2008

BUFFALO, NY – With your help, we can find the answers to cancer. Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) is asking healthy Western New Yorkers who have friends or relatives who are patients of RPCI to volunteer for its Data Bank and BioRepository (DBBR).

The DBBR, which is essentially a computer database of information and banked blood samples, is designed to help researchers understand why some people are diagnosed with cancer and others are not. The information may help shed light on the roles that lifestyle, genetics and the environment play in the development of cancer. It also may help researchers understand why some cancer treatments work better than others.

“Most of us know someone who has been treated for cancer. During those times, friends and family often want to do something to help. Western New Yorkers can help by participating in the DBBR. This database gives cancer researchers a rich source of information allowing them to more quickly turn research into results,” said Christine Ambrosone, PhD, Chair of the Department of Cancer Prevention and Control and Director of the DBBR at RPCI.

The DBBR is one of a few in the country using this unique and innovative approach to providing information to investigators conducting research related to cancer prevention, detection and treatment. The collection of specimens and data is for use in current and future research studies.

Volunteers must be a friend or relative of a patient at RPCI, 18 years of age or older and have no prior history of cancer themselves. Participants will be asked to sign a consent form, give a blood sample at Roswell Park, complete a health and lifestyle questionnaire and return the questionnaire in a postage paid envelope. DBBR participation is confidential and the information and blood sample are identified only by a number. Personal information will not be shared with employers, insurance companies, families or friends.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 716-845-7774 or visit the website at http://www.roswellpark.org/Research/Shared_Resources/DBBR/DBBR_Volunteering.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center. The Institute was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or email askrpci@roswellpark.org.

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