A new tissue bank at Middlemore Hospital is being set up to help design cancer treatments which could specifically help Maori patients.
Clinical director Samar Issa told Waatea News that samples from consenting patients at Auckland hospitals will begin to be stored next year, as part of a project to help determine genetic abnormalities that cause cancer.
She says the research could help answer the many unanswered questions around the prevalence of certain types of cancers in Maori.
The tissue bank is being set up by the Centre for Clinical Research & Effective Practice, a charitable trust that is associated with the Counties Manukau District Health Board.
