Tumor Preservation
What is Tumor Preservation?
Tumor preservation is exactly what it says. During surgery, the tissue (or fluid) from your tumor are preserved for further study (immediately or at a later time). It is ideal for every cancer patient, but especially those who are interested in drug screening, chemo sensitivity testing, personalized therapeutic vaccines, or adoptive t-cell therapy.
Personalized medicine starts with the understanding that no two cancers are the same. All tumors are unique and must be treated as such.
For those who are just beginning their treatment journey, tumor preservation can help an oncology team determine the most effective treatments for their cancer before introducing medications that have toxic side effects and may not work. It can also identify experimental therapies that are outside of the standard of care that may be more effective than traditional treatment methods.
For those who are in the midst of a frustrating and ineffectual battle with cancer, tumor preservation offers access to the best and most advanced technologies in the world, that are often beyond chemotherapy and radiation – treatments like drug screening and cellular immunotherapies.
Do Hospitals Preserve Tumor Alive?
No. Many patients ask the surgeon/oncologist/hospital if the hospital will store their tumor, and the answer is typically yes, which is misleading. This is because hospitals preserve a small part in paraffin (dead), but not alive or in multiple formats. Advanced Cancer Solutions preserves as much tumor as possible and in various formats, including freezing the cells in a way that they stay alive.
This is critical because different applications require different formats, and once in one format, the tumor cannot be reformatted. By doing so Advanced Cancer Solutions maximizes the opportunities patients have to use their tissue for their own benefit.
Is Tumor Preservation Right for Me?
Tumor preservation is available to all patients, and is especially recommended for patients that:
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want to find out which drug or cocktail is best for their cancer
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have not responded to their treatment
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have an aggressive disease or disease of unknown origin
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are experiencing too many side effects from their current treatment
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are interested in exploring cellular immunotherapy
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are being told that there are no other treatment options available to them
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have (or think that have) developed resistance to their current treatment
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want to take more control of their treatment
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want to keep all future treatment options open
More than 50% of patients use their tumor within the first 6 months.
Summary of What One Can Do with the Preserved Tumor:
Diagnostic/Treatment Options | WITH MY Tumor | WithOUT Tumor |
---|---|---|
Chemotherapy and radiation | ||
Cancer vaccines | ||
Chemo-sensitivity testing | ||
T-Cell therapy | ||
Genetic sequencing | ||
Drug screening pannels | ||
Stem cell therapy | ||
Future treatments that target your tumor |
Talk to us
Personalized medicine is transforming our thinking about designing effective treatments. If you have questions, you can also set up a time for a call. Knowledge is Power! Know All Your Options! Take control! For more information: call +1 267.702.5501 or schedule a free private consultation.
How it Works
Before Surgery
After you complete our registration forms, a specially prepared collection kit is shipped (overnight) to you. The kit is placed in the refrigerator until the day of surgery.
Day of Surgery
You or a family member deliver the kit to the surgical team. Instructions for the surgeon are included, and they place the tumor tissue in the kit, and the courier is called for pickup. Prepaid shipping labels are included.
After Surgery
The courier delivers the specimen to our labs, and we immediately process/cryopreserve and store it. Within a few days, we will send you and you a report about what we have received and stored.
Ongoing
You can instruct us to send parts of the tumor to a destination of your choice, allowing you to maximize potential therapeutic and diagnostic options. We will help you research some of the most common applications and prioritize use of the tissue.
Last-minute surgery. Can I still preserve my tumor?
We know that in some cases, tumor surgery is scheduled within a few hours or a few days.
Many of the large cancer centers across the country have our collection kits on hand in their pathology departments for just such emergencies. However, we can also coordinate an emergency collection and transport processes that meet both your needs and your timeline.
If you have recently been diagnosed with cancer, your job is to find the treatment processes that will give you the longest survival with the best quality of life. Tumor preservation plays a key role in studying your tumor and identifying the best treatments possible.
Schedule your free consultation and find out why tumor preservation is right for you.
PRICING
Exact prices depend on the processing formats required. Call for more information.
Our fees cover:
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Unlimited consultations
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Coordination of collection process
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Transport kit and optimal media
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Correspondence with surgical/pathology team as needed
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Processing and cryo-preservation of tissue (in multiple formats)
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Shipping and tracking
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Initial education regarding immunotherapy applications and requirements
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Unlimited continual consultations
Additional fees apply for monthly storage and transfers.
Request more information about Tumor Preservation or schedule a free consultation with one of our advisors.
A call with a patient advisor from Advanced Cancer Solutions is the quickest way to get answers to your questions. This is a free conversation, and there is no obligation to utilize Advanced Cancer Solutions.
To assure the highest level of customer service, each client is matched to a patient advisor who will provide personalized guidance and support, not only through the preservation process, but for ongoing help with diagnostic and treatment research.
Tumor Preservation
(Step 1)
Preserve your cancer cells/tissue (in multiple formats) for advanced testing and study (immediate or at later time).
Advanced Testing
Personalized Chemo/Drug Therapy
Test and prioritize which chemo/drug combination your tumor will most likely respond to before taking it.
Targeted Therapy (Genomic Testing)
Identify drugs/experimental drugs that target biomarkers on your tumor.
Immune-Therapy
Personalized Vaccines
Activate and awaken your immune system to fight your cancer from within and in parallel.
Adoptive T-Cell Therapy
Boost and strengthen the natural ability of your T-Cells (killer cells) to attack and fight your cancer.