Tissue banking in head and neck cancer

Progress in the molecular oncology in head and neck cancer (HNSCC) depends on high quality appropriate tissue samples for research. The expanding availability of new molecular platforms makes ever increasing demands on any available biospecimens. HNSCC offers several key advantages over other tumour sites to the cancer researcher such that, through effective tissue collection, clinicians will be of great help the basic scientist. Informed consent and ethical approval are pre-requisites for tissue banking and it is vital to develop protocols for collection and storage such that the best possible quality of tissue is utilised in future research.