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CION Cancer Clinics
Genetic testing after a relative has died | CION Cancer Clinics
If a tissue sample from the relative's original biopsy or surgery was kept, it can often still be tested for an inherited gene fault. If nothing was stored, testing moves to a living relative instead. This page explains where a sample might be found, who has to agree to it, and what changes if none can be traced. At CION Cancer Clinics in Hyderabad, our oncologists review your family history with you and guide you to the right genetic counselling and testing.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Naresh GunduConsultant Medical Oncologist · MBBS, DNB (Internal Medicine), DM (Medical Oncology, AIIMS) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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On this page
- Can a genetic test still be done after the relative has died?
- Where a stored sample might actually be
- What actually has to happen to test an old sample
- Words worth knowing before you call the hospital
- Testing the deceased relative's sample, or testing a living one
- What this page cannot tell you
- What families assume, and what is actually true
- Common questions about testing a deceased relative's sample
The short answer
Can a genetic test still be done after the relative has died?
Sometimes, yes. If a tissue sample from the relative's original surgery or biopsy was kept by the hospital or the pathology lab, it can often still be tested. If no sample exists anywhere, testing has to start with a living relative instead, which changes what the result can tell the family.
Why the relative who had cancer is tested first
Whenever possible, genetic testing begins with the person who was actually diagnosed. Their sample tells the family whether there is a fault to look for at all, and which one. Testing a well relative first, without that starting point, is a much blunter question and often answers less.
What counts as a stored sample
Usually a wax-embedded tissue block from a biopsy or an operation, kept in the hospital's pathology archive. Occasionally a blood sample saved from an earlier test. A cause-of-death report or a discharge summary is not a sample and cannot be tested on its own.
A stored block does not have to be recent. Blocks kept for a decade or longer can often still be used.Where to look
Where a stored sample might actually be
Families rarely know this exists until someone asks. It is worth checking each of these before assuming nothing was kept.
The hospital that did the surgery
Pathology departments keep tissue blocks for many years as routine practice, often well beyond the patient's own records. This is the first and best place to ask.
A private pathology lab
If the biopsy was processed outside the treating hospital, the lab itself may hold the block rather than the hospital that treated the patient.
An earlier genetic test
If the relative was ever tested themselves while alive, even for an unrelated reason, the laboratory that ran that test may still hold extracted material that can be reused.
Worth asking about
- Any biobank the hospital takes part in
- A research study the relative once consented to
If nothing can be found
Testing moves to a living relative closest to the person who died, usually a sibling or a child. It is a different, less direct question, and a counsellor can explain what it can and cannot settle for the family.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistIn practice
What actually has to happen to test an old sample
Written permission
The nearest relative or legal representative usually has to give written consent for the hospital to release and test the deceased person's stored sample.
Locating the block
The hospital's records team searches the pathology archive using the old patient number, which can take some correspondence if the surgery was many years ago.
Checking it is usable
A pathologist confirms the block still contains enough tumour tissue. Very old or poorly preserved blocks sometimes cannot be extracted from successfully.
Extraction and testing
Genetic material is extracted from the tissue and run on the same panel a living person's blood sample would use, then reported to the family's counsellor.
On this topic
Words worth knowing before you call the hospital
- Tissue block
- A small sample of tumour tissue set in wax during the original biopsy or surgery, stored by the pathology department.
- Archive retention
- How long a hospital or lab keeps tissue blocks before it is allowed to dispose of them. Practice varies between hospitals and labs.
- Legal representative
- The person recognised as able to act for the deceased, usually the next of kin or the executor of the estate, who signs the release.
- Germline testing
- Testing for a fault present from birth, in every cell. This is what a family testing a deceased relative's sample is usually asking for.
- Cascade testing
- Testing other relatives, one branch of the family tree at a time, once a specific fault has been identified in one person.
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Side by side
Testing the deceased relative's sample, or testing a living one
A stored sample is found
No sample can be found
The test answers what the whole family needs to know
The test only answers what one living relative carries
A negative result usually closes the question for the family
A negative result in one relative does not close it for everyone
Requires written consent from next of kin
Requires the living relative's own consent
Can take longer to arrange, sometimes weeks
Usually the quicker route to arrange
Being straight with you
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you whether a sample from your specific relative still exists. That is a question for the hospital's pathology records team, and the answer depends entirely on that hospital's own archive and how the request is worded.
It cannot promise the block will be usable
Age, how the tissue was originally preserved and how much tumour was present all affect whether a stored block yields a result. Occasionally a lab reports back that extraction failed, and the family is left where it started.
Who this does not apply to
If a living relative closest to the person who died is willing and able to be tested, many families are better served starting there rather than spending weeks tracing an old sample. A counsellor can weigh that against your family's situation.
If you are not sure where to start, call the helpline and describe what you know. Someone will tell you which route makes sense for your family.Commonly believed
What families assume, and what is actually true
"Once someone has died, there is nothing left to test."
A tissue block from an old biopsy or operation contains genetic material for many years. It is one of the more common ways a family finally gets an answer after a relative has passed away.
"Any relative can just ask the hospital and get it done."
Written consent from the recognised next of kin or legal representative is normally required before a hospital will release a deceased person's stored sample for testing.
"If the old hospital cannot find the block, that is the end of it."
It closes that route, but not the family's options. A counsellor can move to testing the closest living relative instead, which still gives useful, if less complete, information.
"A death certificate showing cancer is enough to test with."
A death certificate or discharge summary contains no genetic material. Only an actual stored tissue or blood sample can be tested.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about testing a deceased relative's sample
Who can give permission to test a deceased relative's sample?
Usually the next of kin or the person legally recognised to act for the deceased, such as the executor of the estate. Hospitals vary slightly in exactly whose signature they require, so ask the pathology department directly.
How do I find out if a tissue block still exists?
Contact the hospital or lab that carried out the original biopsy or surgery and ask their pathology records team, giving the old patient number if you have it. A genetic counsellor can help word the request if you are unsure how to start.
Does it matter how long ago the relative died?
Not directly. What matters is whether the hospital still holds the block and whether it was preserved well enough to yield genetic material, which is more about the archive than the passage of time itself.
What if the sample cannot be extracted successfully?
The laboratory will report that extraction failed rather than guess at a result. At that point the family's counsellor will usually discuss testing the closest living relative instead.
Can a blood relative be tested instead if no sample exists?
Yes. Testing moves to the living relative closest to the person who died, most often a sibling or a child. It answers a narrower question than testing the affected relative directly, and a counsellor will explain the difference.
Is this different from testing a tumour for treatment purposes?
Yes. This is inherited, germline testing, looking for a fault present in every cell. Testing a tumour to guide that person's own treatment is a separate question, covered under targeted therapy rather than this section.
Does the family need a court order to release the sample?
Not usually. Most hospitals accept written consent from the recognised next of kin. A court order becomes relevant only where family members disagree about whether testing should go ahead.
Where do we start if we do not know which hospital kept the sample?
Start with whichever hospital or clinic you remember being involved in the relative's original diagnosis or surgery. Call the CION helpline if you are unsure how to approach them, and someone will talk you through it.
Your Specialists
Meet CION's oncologists. Bring your family history or genetic report to them.
Our medical oncologists see people with a strong family history of cancer, arrange genetic counselling and testing where it fits, and plan the checks that follow.
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
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Sources
- National Cancer Institute — Genetic Testing for Inherited Cancer Susceptibility Syndromes
- GeneReviews (NCBI) — Genetic Counseling Principles
- Cancer Research UK — Inherited cancer genes and increased cancer risk
- NHS — Predictive genetic tests for cancer risk genes
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
Can a genetic test be done from a tissue block?The same tissue-block question, without the deceased-relative complicationDrawing the pedigree: your family tree on paperHow the deceased relative fits onto the family treeHow to find a genetic counsellor in IndiaWho to approach next once a sample is tracedWhich sample type is more reliable?How a stored block compares with a fresh blood sample
Talk to us
Not sure whether a sample from your family exists?
Tell us which hospital treated your relative and roughly when. We will help you work out whether a stored sample is worth tracing. One helpline serves every CION centre.