Medical Oncologist
CION Cancer Clinics
What happens to your sample after a genetic test | CION Cancer Clinics
After a genetic test, the laboratory may keep your leftover blood or saliva, and the DNA taken from it, for a time. You can ask how long, what it may be used for, and to have it destroyed. This page explains what is usually stored, the consent choices on the form, how to withdraw, and what withdrawing cannot undo. At CION Cancer Clinics, our team helps carriers and their families plan checks, next steps and support after a genetic result.
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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
- Does the laboratory keep my sample after the test?
- What exactly is kept, and who holds it?
- How do you ask for your sample to be destroyed?
- The words you will meet, in plain language
- What withdrawing can change, and what it cannot undo
- What this page cannot tell you
- Four things people assume about stored samples
- Common questions about stored samples
The short answer
Does the laboratory keep my sample after the test?
Often it does, for a time. Many laboratories keep leftover blood or saliva, and the DNA taken from it, after your report is issued. You have the right to ask what is kept, for how long, what it may be used for, and to have it destroyed.
Why a laboratory keeps anything at all
A stored sample saves you another blood test. It lets the laboratory repeat a check if something looks unclear. It lets your doctor add a gene later without starting again. It can also help a relative, because the laboratory can compare their result with yours.
What the rules in India say
The national ethical guidelines from the Indian Council of Medical Research treat you as the owner of your sample and your data. The laboratory is only a custodian. You can ask for your sample to be destroyed and you can withdraw from research. Storing a sample for future research needs your consent. India's data protection law of 2023 adds rights over your digital records, and its main duties are being brought in stage by stage.
Your sample and your data are two different things. Ask about both.What is actually stored
What exactly is kept, and who holds it?
A genetic test leaves four things behind. Each one can be held in a different place and follows different rules.
The leftover sample
What remains of the blood or saliva you gave. Many laboratories discard it once the DNA has been taken out. Some keep it for a period set by their own policy.
The extracted DNA
A small tube of purified DNA. This is the part most often kept, because it can be tested again without asking you for more blood.
Ask the laboratory
- How long it is kept
- Who may use it and why
- How you ask for it to be destroyed
The raw data files
The computer files of your gene sequence. They are kept so the laboratory can look again if a variant is later reclassified. These are digital personal data, and the data protection law applies to them.
The report in your record
The written result, filed in your hospital record with your name. Doctors rely on it to plan your care safely, so it stays in the record even if the sample itself is destroyed.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistStep by step
How do you ask for your sample to be destroyed?
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Find out who holds it
The clinic that took your blood is often not the laboratory that tested it. The laboratory's name is printed on your report. Your counsellor can tell you if the sample went to another city.
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Think first about your relatives
If you are the family member who had cancer, your DNA may be the clearest way to find a fault for others later. Talk it through with your counsellor before you decide.
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Put the request in writing
Give your name, the date of the test and the sample number from the report. Say whether you want the sample, the DNA, the raw data, or all three, destroyed or deleted.
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Ask for written confirmation
Ask the laboratory to confirm what it has destroyed, and to tell you plainly anything it must keep and why.
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Keep your copy of the report
Destroying the sample does not remove your need for the result. Keep the report safe, because relatives and future doctors may need it.
On your consent form
The words you will meet, in plain language
- Storage consent
- Your agreement for the laboratory to keep your sample or DNA after the test. It is often a separate tick box from the test itself.
- Research use
- Using your stored sample for studies that are not about your own care. This needs its own consent and an ethics committee review.
- Coded sample
- Your name is replaced by a code, but the laboratory can still link it back to you. A coded sample can still be withdrawn.
- Anonymised sample
- The link to your name has been removed for good. Nobody can find it again to withdraw it.
- Withdrawal
- Taking back your consent. It stops future use. It cannot reach back into studies that are already finished.
- Material transfer agreement
- A written contract needed when samples are sent to another institution, in India or abroad. It sets out what may be done with them.
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Side by side
What withdrawing can change, and what it cannot undo
Withdrawing can
Withdrawing cannot
Stop any future research use of your sample
Pull your data out of a study already published
Have the leftover sample and DNA destroyed
Remove the result from your medical record
Stop your sample being shared any further
Trace a sample that has been fully anonymised
Be asked for at any time
Undo what relatives have already been told
Being straight with you
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you the policy of the laboratory that tested your sample. That is written in the consent form you signed and in the laboratory's own privacy notice. If you do not have a copy, ask for one. Nothing on this page replaces what you actually agreed to.
It is not legal advice
The data protection law is new and its rules are still coming into force. How it applies to a stored DNA sample, as opposed to a digital file, has not yet been tested in an Indian court. If you have a dispute with a laboratory, a lawyer is the right person to ask.
Who this does not apply to
Most people never need to do anything. The laboratory keeps or discards the sample under its routine policy and nobody uses it for anything else. If your test was part of a research study, the study's own consent terms apply, and the study team is who you ask. If you had testing on your tumour tissue, that block is held by the pathology department and is a separate matter, covered on our targeted therapy pages.
What your specific result means is a question for the counsellor who ordered the test.Commonly believed
Four things people assume about stored samples
"Once I give blood, the laboratory owns it."
Indian research ethics guidance says the opposite. The person who gave the sample owns it, and the laboratory looks after it. You can ask what is being done with it.
"My sample will be used for research without anyone asking me."
Research on a sample that can be linked to you needs your consent and an ethics committee's approval. Look for the separate research box on your form. You can say no and still have the test.
"If I withdraw, my result disappears too."
The result stays in your medical record. Your doctors need it to treat you safely, whatever happens to the sample.
"Destroying my sample protects my family."
It can do the opposite. If you are the relative who had cancer, your stored DNA may be the only way to find the family fault once you are no longer able to give another sample.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about stored samples
How long will the laboratory keep my sample?
It depends on the laboratory's policy and on what you agreed to on the consent form. Some keep DNA for a long period so it can be retested. Others discard it sooner. Ask your counsellor or the laboratory to tell you the period in writing.
Can I ask for my sample to be destroyed?
Yes. Write to the laboratory with your name, the test date and the sample number, and ask for written confirmation. The laboratory may have to keep some records by law, and it should tell you what those are.
Will withdrawing change the care I receive?
It should not. Withdrawing from research, or asking for a stored sample to be destroyed, is your choice and does not affect your right to treatment. If you are worried it might, tell your counsellor, who can raise it for you.
Was my sample sent outside India?
Some genetic tests are processed abroad. Sending human samples out of the country is regulated, and research samples need written agreements and official clearances. You are entitled to ask where your sample went and under what terms, before or after the test.
Can my family use my stored sample after I die?
Sometimes, if your consent allows it and the laboratory still holds it. You can record your wishes on the form. Tell a close relative which laboratory did your test, so the family knows where to ask later.
What about the tissue from my cancer surgery?
Tissue blocks are kept by the pathology department as part of your medical record. They can sometimes be used later for testing, including for a relative. Asking for their destruction is a different process from a blood sample.
Does the data protection law cover my genetic data?
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 covers personal data held in digital form, including health data. It will let you withdraw consent and ask for data to be erased. Its main duties are being phased in, with most due from 2027.
Who do I ask if I cannot find out where my sample is?
Start with the doctor or counsellor who ordered the test, since the laboratory is named on your report. If the test was arranged at CION, call the helpline and someone will find out for you.
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
Medical Oncologist
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Sources
- Indian Council of Medical Research — National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research Involving Human Participants
- Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology — The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023
- MedlinePlus Genetics — What is informed consent?
- National Cancer Institute — Genetic Testing for Inherited Cancer Susceptibility Syndromes
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
Consent for research use of your sampleThe research tick box, and what saying yes or no meansSending samples abroad: the rulesIf your test was processed outside IndiaYour genetic data under the DPDP Act 2023Your rights over the digital files, not just the sampleWho can see your genetic result?Where the report itself travels after the test
Talk to us
Not sure what you agreed to on the consent form?
Bring the form or your report and we will help you find out where your sample is held and how to make a request about it. One helpline serves every CION centre.