The START Tumor Bank is a department within the PK Department and handles skin and tumor biopsies required by clinical trial protocols. A member of the PK Department is present during biopsy procedures for immediate processing of the sample for the trial. Additionally, the Tumor Bank collects and banks the tumor tissues of patients who consent. This tissue is then stored for future use by researchers developing new therapies.

The START tumor bank was created to make tumor tissue gifted by patients receiving care or treatment at The START Center available to all researchers involved in developing a better understanding of the biology of cancer or those engaged in the discovery of new therapies.

The START tumor bank is different than other tumor banks. The majority of new anticancer drug development is performed by researchers in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, researchers in non-profit or charitable institutes, and not within the University setting. However, almost all tumor banks are confined to university academic centers and the tissue is only available to those specific researchers at that institution.

The mission of the START tumor bank is to make available tumor specimens to all researchers actively engaged in cancer research whether they are in University, Academic, or Pharmaceutical industry, with a goal to accelerate the discovery and development of new agents for the treatment and cure of cancer.