Specimen banks for cancer prognostic factor research.

Prognostic factors are necessary for determining whether a patient will require therapy, for selecting the optimal therapy, and for evaluating the effectiveness of the therapy chosen. Research in prognostic factors has been hampered by long waiting times and a paucity of outcomes. Specimen banks can solve these problems, but their implementation and use give rise to many important and complex issues. This paper presents an overview of some of the issues related to the use of specimen banks in prognostic factor research.