Specimen Packaging and Submission Guidelines

Unless otherwise indicated in the protocol, package and ship specimens as outlined in the instructions accessible from the links below. 

Specimen Packaging and Shipping Instructions for:

Important Notes:

  1. Specimens must be packaged to comply with IATA standards (www.iata.org).
  2. When a participant has a known infection, such as Hepatitis, a Category B label must be used in place of an Exempt Human Specimen label and Category B. Category B labels are not provided by the SWOG Biospecimen Bank.
  3. For leukemia protocols: Do NOT send cytogenetic specimens to the SWOG Biospecimen Bank.
  4. Unless otherwise indicated in the protocol, the STS Packing List must be included (packaged) with all specimen submissions.
  5. The partially redacted pathology report(s) corresponding to the tissue removal surgery must be included with each shipment of tissue.
  6. For questions about shipping specimens around a holiday, please reference the Bank’s holiday hours memo distributed by the SWOG Protocol Development office or contact the Bank directly (Lab #201: Solid Tissue, Myeloma & Lymphoma Division or Lab #200: Leukemia Division).
  7. Unless otherwise indicated in the protocol, some specimens may be shipped in batches. Batch sizes must be limited to 5 different participants, or up to 100 specimens (e.g., vials or slides), whichever is fewer. Specimens from different participants must be bagged separately.
    • Note: Batch shipments have the highest error rate. Review and confirm the specimen labeling with the STS Packing List, and count the number of each specimen to ensure that all data match before packaging the shipment