Bay Biosciences provides fresh frozen tumor tissue samples with matching high quality clinical grade sera (serum), plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) biofluid samples from patients diagnosed with biliary tract cancer.

Moreover, the sera (serum), plasma and PBMC samples are processed from patient’s whole-blood using custom processing protocols, from unique treatment-naive biliary tract adenocarcinoma patients.

In addition, detailed clinical data and pathology annotations including biliary tract cancer patient’s corresponding diagnostic test values are provided to a valued pharmaceutical customer for research, diagnostics, development and drug discovery.

Biliary Tract (Bile Duct) Cancer Overview

Biliary tract cancer is a rare adenocarcinoma that occurs in a bile duct; consequently, it often causes jaundice, pruritus, and weight loss. Moreover, the lesion may be papillary or flat and ulcerated. Unfortunately, the tumor is often un-resectable at diagnosis.

To elaborate, the bile ducts are a series of thin tubes that go from the liver to the small intestine. Specifically, bile ducts move a fluid called bile from the liver and gallbladder into the small intestine, where it helps digest the fats in food.

Furthermore, cancer can start in any part of the bile duct system. Based on which part the cancer is found, it can be grouped into three types:

  • First, intrahepatic bile duct cancer
  • Moreover, perihilar (also called hilar) bile duct cancer
  • Lastly, distal bile duct cancer

In particular, biliary tract cancer can form anywhere along the bile ducts, and each sub-type of biliary tract cancer names itself after the location where the primary cancer begins. For instance, intrahepatic cancers begin inside the bile duct in the liver. On the other hand, extrahepatic cancers begin from bile ducts outside the liver. Notably, half of bile duct cancers are Klatskin tumors, which form where the right hepatic duct joins with the left hepatic duct in the liver.

Additionally, cancers that begin in the common bile duct are called common bile duct cancers. If, however, multiple tumors are present in different areas of the bile duct, this is called multifocal bile duct cancer.

Biliary Tract (Bile Duct) Cancer Signs and Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of cholangiocarcinoma include:

Causes of Biliary Tract (Bile Duct) Cancer

The exact cause of most bile duct cancers is unknown; however, researchers have found some risk factors that make a person more likely to develop bile duct cancer. Specifically, researchers have found a link between this cancer and things that irritate and inflame the bile ducts, whether it’s bile duct stones, infestation with a parasite, or something else.

Furthermore, inflammation might lead to certain changes in the DNA of cells, making them grow out of control and form cancers. In fact, DNA is the chemical in each of our cells that makes up our genes, the instructions for how our cells function.

  • Moreover, genes that control when cells grow, divide into new cells, and die are named oncogenes.
  • In contrast, genes that slow down cell division or cause cells to die at the right time are named tumor suppressor genes.
Consequently, DNA changes (mutations) can turn on oncogenes or turn off tumor suppressor genes, which can cause cancers. Generally, many different genes usually need to change for a cell to become cancer. Ultimately, we usually look like our parents because they are the source of our DNA. Nevertheless, DNA affects more than how we look.

Some people inherit DNA mutations from their parents that greatly increase their risk for certain cancers. However, researchers do not think inherited gene mutations cause very many bile duct cancers.

In contrast, scientists usually acquire gene mutations related to bile duct cancers during life rather than inherit them. For example, researchers find acquired changes in the TP53 tumor suppressor gene in most bile duct cancers.

Additionally, other genes that may play a role in bile duct cancers include KRAS, HER2, and ALK. Moreover, some of the gene changes that lead to bile duct cancer might result from inflammation.

Nevertheless, sometimes no one knows the cause of these changes. In fact, many gene changes might just be random events that sometimes happen inside a cell, without having an outside cause.

Biospecimens

biospecimens

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Moreover, human biospecimens are available including tumor tissue, serum, plasma and PBMC samples from most other therapeutic areas.

Furthermore, Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and likewise normal healthy donors for controls. Additionally, available in all formats and types.

In fact, our biobank procures and stores fully consented, de-identified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples, human biofluids such as serum samples, plasma samples from various diseases and matched controls.

Also, all our human tissue collections, human biospecimens and human biofluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

In fact, this critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Additionally, researchers find the patient’s data associated with the human biospecimens extremely valuable and use it to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, as well as in other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and human biological samples, including fresh frozen human biospecimens cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

For example fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as human serum, human plasma and human PBMCs.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Types of Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) and human biofluids from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

Moreover, we can also procure most human biospecimens and human biofluids, special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples and human biofluids are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human biofluids such as  human plasma, human serum, and human PBMCs bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols; you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.

Bay Biosciences also provides human biospecimens from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, Contact us Now.