In collaboration with the BC Women’s Centre for Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis and Gynaecological Tissue Bank at the BC’s Ovarian Cancer Research Team (OvCare) women who undergo surgery for endometriosis have the opportunity to donate their tissue to research.
The tissue bank is housed at the Vancouver General Hospital Department of Pathology and the British Columbia Cancer Agency and contains endometriosis tissue from over 500 of patients since 2012. Tissue samples are collected from consenting patients following standard care surgical excision.
This bank provides the foundation for our translational research projects which aim to;
- validate the role of somatic mutations and local neurogenesis in sexual pain in women with endometriosis;
- investigate specific gene mutations that may play a role in the transformation to ovarian cancer;
- understand the link between endometriosis, nerve density and pain;
- link the diseased tissue to clinical symptoms; and
- identify gene expression changes in endometriosis associated with pelvic pain.
| Data is available on request to qualified investigators as per current ethical approvals and data sharing agreements set by the University of British Columbia Research Ethics Board. |