Research samples are hard to obtain these days

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7361.429

BMJ 2002;325:429 ( 24 August )

Filler

Research samples are hard to obtain these days

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

I was a clinical research fellow coming to the end of my three year research programme on the aetiology of hepatobiliary cancers.One of my final studies was to analyse bile, collected via endoscopicretrograde cholangiopancreatography, with magnetic resonance spectroscopyto look for differences between patients with cancer and thosewithout.

The initial spectroscopy readings were promising, with various bizarre, never previously seen peaks proudly announcing themselves.My initial excitement that I was on the verge of discovering thecause of biliary cancer was soon cut short, however, on realisingthat these peaks were probably due to the contrast agent usedduring cholangiopancreatography. Time was running out $---$ I had tosubmit my thesis within a few months and still had other lab workto complete. What I needed, and quickly, was a fresh, contrast-freebile sample. But fromwhere?