National Cancer Institute How You Can Help 

Medical Research

Donating Your Blood, 

Tissue, and 

Other Samples U.S. DEPARTMENT 

OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES National Institutes 

of Health
You have the choice to donate samples, such as blood 

and tissue, for medical research. Medical researchers 

use samples to find new and better treatments for 

patients. Before you make your decision about donating, 

it is important that you understand what donation is, 

how it works, and how your consent plays a role. 

People from all backgrounds and 

communities donate samples

What Are Samples?

Samples (also called biospecimens) include materials from 

your body such as tissue, blood, skin, hair, saliva, and urine. 

Who Donates?

People from all backgrounds and communities donate samples. 

Why Should I Donate?

Researchers use your samples, along with samples from 

thousands of other patients, to look for ways to prevent, 

find, or treat health problems like diabetes, heart disease, 

and cancer. Donating is a way that some patients cope 

with their disease. It also helps some families cope with 

the challenge of having a loved one who is sick. Many people 

find comfort knowing that by donating samples, they will help 

researchers make discoveries that can advance medicine and 

improve the treatment of others in their community.

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How Do I Donate? 

Ask your doctor or nurse what samples you may be able to 

donate. There are two ways you can donate.

• You may choose to donate samples that are collected during 

a medical procedure. Often parts of your samples remain after 

your doctor uses what he or she needs for medical tests. 

These samples are usually destroyed. But if you give consent, 

samples that aren’t needed for your medical care can be used 

for research. You will not need to have an additional procedure 

for this type of donation.

• Or, you may choose to donate samples through a procedure 

that is not related to your medical care, such as a blood draw 

or saliva swab, for research purposes only.

Where Can I Donate?

Talk to your doctor or nurse to find out where you can 

donate your sample for medical research.

What Happens After I Donate My Sample?

If your samples are collected as part of your medical procedure, 

your doctor will first complete all your medical tests. With your 

consent, any extra samples may be sent to a biobank, along with 

some information about your general health.

A biobank is a place where samples are stored until they are 

needed for research. There are thousands of biobanks in the 

United States.

Researchers	studied	thousands	of	

breast	cancer	samples.	This	helped	them:

•		 Find	out	that	1	in	4	breast	cancers	carried	extra	

copies	of	a	certain	gene			

•		 Create	a	test	to	identify	breast	cancers	that	carried	

the	extra	gene	copies			

•		 Develop	treatments	that	helped	women	with	these	types	of	

breast	cancers	live	longer		

This	was	only	possible	because	thousands	of	women	gave	

their	samples	for	research.	

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Questions and Concerns

• Do	I	get	to	choose	how	my	samples	and	information	

are	used?

No. Just as you do not get to decide who gets your blood 

when you donate at a blood drive, you cannot choose how 

your samples and information will be used in research. 

• Who	can	use	the	samples	I	donate?

Researchers will use the samples and information you donate. 

The biobank will not contact you when your samples or information are sent to researchers.

• Who	decides	how	my	samples	will	be	used?

A committee of experts and patient advocates will review each 

request for a sample to make sure the proposed research is 

ethical, useful, and based on good science. After the project 

is approved, the biobank will give researchers samples and 

related health information. 

• How	long	will	my	samples	and	information	be	used?

There is no limit on how long samples and information can be 

stored and used. Samples can be kept and used in research 

until the donor asks to have them destroyed or the biobank 

closes. If the biobank closes, your samples may be destroyed 

or sent to another biobank.

• Can	I	change	my	mind?

If you change your mind, contact your doctor to discuss your 

options. The right to withdraw your samples from research 

varies by biobank. You should make sure you understand your 

options before you sign your consent form. Usually, samples 

and information that have already been given to researchers or 

used in research will not be returned. Research results from your 

samples or information cannot be changed or stopped. You may 

have the right to withdraw your samples and information that 

have not yet been used in any research. 

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• Will	I	receive	the	results	of	research	done	on	my	samples?

You will receive the results from your medical tests (such as a 

biopsy or blood test). But, you will not receive the results from 

research done on your samples. 

• Why	won’t	I	receive	the	results	of	research	done	on	my	

samples?

Donated samples are used for broad research and future 

discoveries, not for discovering information for each patient. 

Researchers may publish articles about their findings but they 

will not identify the individuals whose samples were used. 

• Will	donating	samples	or	information	learned	from	my	

samples	change	how	my	doctor	and	insurance	company	

treat	me?	

Neither you nor your family will be treated differently after you 

donate samples. There are measures in place to protect your 

privacy.

• Why	do	you	need	information	from	my	health	records?

In order to do research with your samples, researchers may 

need to have some information about you. This information 

helps researchers learn more about the specific diseases and 

treatments that they are studying. Information that researchers 

need may include:

– Your gender

– Your racial or ethnic group

– Your age

– Your family history

– Your medical history 

“I donated my samples because 

 I wanted to help other people in 

 my family and my community.”

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•	How	do	I	know	that	my	privacy	will	be	protected?

One of the most important things for biobanks is to keep your 

information private. Biobanks are not allowed to release your 

personal information without your consent. To protect your 

privacy, your samples will be coded with a random number 

instead of your name. Your address, phone number, Social 

Security number, date of birth, and anything else that could 

identify you will be removed before the records are sent to the 

researcher. Federal law requires the protection of your private 

medical information. 

• Are	there	any	risks?

• There are very few risks to donating your samples for 

research. The greatest risk is the accidental release of 

information from your health records. The chances that your 

information will be released outside the biobank are very 

small. There are security measures designed to prevent this 

from happening.

• You may be uncomfortable with the fact that the biobank will 

not contact you before your samples are selected for research 

studies. If, because of your religious or other beliefs, you 

would not want your samples to be used for certain types 

of research, donation may not be right for you. 

• Your doctor or nurse will prepare you for any physical 

side effects you may have from having a medical procedure, 

such as bruising or soreness at the place where your samples 

are taken from. 

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Is Donation Right for Me?

Take time to ask yourself, your family, your doctor, 

your nurse, and other important people in your life 

the following questions:

• Is donation right for me?

• Do I understand my options? Does my family?

• Do I understand any unlikely, yet possible, privacy 

risks to myself and my family?

• Do I understand everything on my consent form? 

Or are there parts of my consent form I need to 

discuss further?

• Am I comfortable with experts making decisions 

about how my samples will be used in research 

without contacting me?

• Do I understand that I am not going to receive 

research results from biobanks?

• Do I still have questions?

“I am a cancer survivor. I donated 

 my samples during a medical 

 procedure. It made me and my 

 family feel good to know I could 

 help medical research.”

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For More Information ...

•	 Talk to your doctor or nurse

•	 Contact the Office of Biorepositories and

Biospecimen Research

	 	 E-mail: nciobbr@mail.nih.gov

	 	 Web: http://biospecimens.cancer.gov

For answers to your cancer questions, call the

NCI’s Cancer Information Service at

1–800–4–CANCER (1–800–422–6237)

NIH Publication No. 12-7933

Printed August 2012

NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health

Researchers use your samples, along 

with samples from thousands of other 

patients, to look for ways to prevent, find, 

or treat health problems like diabetes, 

heart disease, and cancer.