Healthy Tissue for Hope

Healthy Tissue for Hope: KTB Partners with the Vera Bradley Foundation

On November 14, the Susan G. Komen® Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center (KTB) will head to Fort Wayne, Indiana, for Healthy Tissue for Hope: A Gift for the Future, a special breast tissue collection event presented in partnership with the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer.

The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the IU Health Fort Wayne Outpatient Surgery Center, 4105 Dicke Road. Community members are invited to participate as tissue donors or volunteers—and, in doing so, become an important part of the breast cancer research process.

This event represents a partnership built on research and hope. The Fort Wayne event brings together two organizations with deep ties to breast cancer research at Indiana University.

For more than 25 years, the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer and the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center have shared a commitment to advancing breast cancer research. The foundation’s roots date to 1993, when Vera Bradley co-founders Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia R. Miller began grassroots fundraising efforts after losing a close friend to breast cancer. That work led to a formal collaboration with IU in 1999.

Since then, the Vera Bradley Foundation has committed more than $50 million to support breast cancer research, recruit scientists and physicians, and establish the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Now, that longstanding partnership is helping bring an opportunity to participate directly in research to the Fort Wayne community.

Why normal breast tissue matters

The Komen Tissue Bank is the only repository in the world for normal breast tissue and matched serum, plasma and DNA. These samples provide researchers with something essential: healthy tissue they can use to better understand what changes when breast cancer develops. KTB samples have supported research projects around the world, helping scientists investigate breast oncogenesis and pursue new approaches to prevention, detection and treatment.

The Fort Wayne collection is also an opportunity to broaden participation in breast cancer research. By engaging community members directly, Healthy Tissue for Hope aims to help build a resource that better represents the people who may ultimately benefit from future discoveries.

What does it mean to donate?

For most participants, the entire donation experience takes approximately 90 minutes.

After check-in and informed consent, donors have their height and weight recorded and complete a health history questionnaire. A physician then cleans and numbs a small area of the breast with local anesthetic. Using a specialized needle, the physician collects a tissue sample approximately the size of three small peas, along with a small blood sample for research.

After the collection, pressure is applied to the site and a pressure bandage and ice pack are provided. No downtime is required, although donors are encouraged to take it easy for the rest of the day.

Prospective donors are generally eligible if they are 18 or older, do not have breast implants, are not taking a therapeutic blood thinner and are not allergic to lidocaine. Additional eligibility requirements apply, and anyone interested in donating should review the complete eligibility information before registering.

Not ready to donate? Volunteer!

Tissue donors aren't the only people who make a collection event possible. Healthy Tissue for Hope will also rely on volunteers to help donors feel welcomed, informed and supported throughout their experience.

Volunteer opportunities include donor check-in and check-out, donor escort, specimen runner, computer assistant, height and weight stations and other roles. People with appropriate medical or laboratory experience may also be able to serve as phlebotomists, laboratory assistants, surgeon assistants, surgeons or radiologists.

Whether you give tissue, give your time or simply help spread the word, Healthy Tissue for Hope offers a meaningful way to contribute to the future of breast cancer research.