An on-site tissue bank at St. Joseph's Health Care is bringing researchers and clinical practitioners together like never before.

The samples are taken from patients being treated for breast cancer, and they're being used for research to improve diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

A look inside the storage vault at the Lawson Health Research Institute provides a glimpse into the future of breast cancer treatment and diagnosis.

It's a future that's of vital interest to Dr. Muriel Brackstone, a surgical oncologist at St. Joseph’s Breast Care, and Barbara Rocco, a breast cancer patient who contributed a tissue sample.

Rocco says "It gives doctors a chance to do research to make life better for women down the road."

Brackstone adds "They can do whatever research they want on the samples to determine whether what they're studying in the lab translates into something that’s clinically relevant for patients.”

Lawson's scientific director, Dr. David Hill, says the biobank is an important resource for researchers in learning how cancer develops and spreads.

"It's very easy to access, it’s very easy then to take the tissue and process it in their laboratory…If the repository was in Toronto, say, you just couldn't do that."

Brackstone says it will enable researchers and practitioners to work more closely.

"The world is leaning towards personalized medicine, that's where cancer care is going. We really need to know more about each individual cancer to be able tailor treatment to that individual person’s type of cancer."

Since it was launched, patients have been very enthusiastic about the program. There are 10 biopsies performed each day at St. Joseph’s, and 93 per cent of patients have opted in to the program.

"I like to think of it as an opportunity to empower patients to participate in clinical trials,” Brackstone adds. “There's good evidence to suggest that patients have a better outcome, better survival if they participate in clinical trials versus the patients who did not."

For Rocco, a mother and grandmother, contributing to the biobank is a way to help other women. 

"I know it’s not going to help me, but it’ll help someone in the future. And to be able to say ‘I gave a sample for that,’ that because of what I did the research is going on."