Bay Biosciences provides fresh frozen serum (sera), plasma, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC’s) from Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients; moreover, it offers detailed clinical data to a pharmaceutical customer for drug discovery, development, and research.

NSCLC Overview

Lung cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the lungs. Specifically, non-small cell lung cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the lung. In fact, over 85% of lung cancer cases are non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 1.8 million people were diagnosed with lung cancer, resulting in 1.6 million deaths. Furthermore, several types of non-small cell lung cancer exist.

Notably, the main subtypes of NSCLC include adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. These subtypes, which start from different types of lung cells, group together as NSCLC because their treatment and prognoses often resemble each other.

Moreover, smoking poses the major risk factor for non-small cell lung cancer. **In addition**, signs of non-small cell lung cancer include shortness of breath, fever, and a persistent cough that doesn’t go away.

Typically, NSCLC begins when healthy cells in the lung change and grow out of control, forming a mass called a tumor, a lesion, or a nodule. Interestingly, a lung tumor can start anywhere in the lung.

Additionally, a tumor can be cancerous or benign. Ultimately, once a cancerous lung tumor grows, it may shed cancer cells.

Types of NSCLC

NSCLC begins in the epithelial cells. It is important for doctors to distinguish between lung cancer that begins in the squamous cells from lung cancer that begins in other cells. This information is used to determine treatment options. Type of NSCLC is determined based on the way the cancer looks under a microscope. Following are the different types of NSCLC are:

  • Adenocarcinoma
  • Squamous cell carcinoma
  • Large cell carcinoma
  • NSCLC-NOS (not otherwise specified) or NSCLC undifferentiated

Signs and Symptoms of NSCLC

Following are the common signs and symptoms of NSCLC:

  • Fatigue
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath
  • Chest pain, if a tumor spreads to the lining of the lung or other parts of the body near the lungs
  • Loss of appetite
  • Coughing up phlegm or mucus
  • Coughing up blood
  • Unintentional weight loss
  • Hoarseness

NSCLC can spread anywhere in the body through a process called metastasis. It most commonly spreads to the lymph nodes, other parts of the lungs, bones, brain, liver, and structures near the kidneys called the adrenal glands. Metastases from NSCLC can cause:

Symptoms such as fatigue, fever, pain, cough feeling sick and loss of appetite are not necessarily caused by metastases.

In fact, cancer anywhere in the body can cause a person to feel unwell in a general way. Moreover, loss of appetite can cause weight loss and muscle loss. As a result,  fatigue and weakness can further worsen a person’s ability to breathe.

Additionally, muscle loss also contributes to weakness and loss of mobility. Therefore, once the cancer is diagnosed, relieving symptoms remains an important part of cancer care and treatment.

This approach may be called palliative care or supportive care. Furthermore, it is often started soon after the cancer diagnosis and continued throughout treatment.

Causes of NSCLC

Exact causes of developing lung cancer are unknown. But researchers know many of the risk factors for developing lung cancers and how some of them cause cells to become cancer.

Researchers do not know the exact causes of developing lung cancer. However, they identify many risk factors for developing lung cancers and how some of them cause cells to become cancerous.

Smoking

Smoking is by far the leading cause of lung cancer. In fact, about 80% of lung cancer deaths result from smoking, and many others stem from exposure to secondhand smoke. Moreover, smoking clearly serves as the strongest risk factor for lung cancer, but it often interacts with other factors.
For instance, smokers exposed to other known risk factors such as radon and asbestos face an even higher risk. However, not everyone who smokes develops lung cancer, so other factors like genetics likely play a role as well.

Causes in Non-smokers

On the other hand, not all patients who develop lung cancer are smokers. Specifically, many people with lung cancer are former smokers, but many others have never smoked at all. Although it is rare for someone who has never smoked to receive a small cell lung cancer (SCLC) diagnosis, it can occur.

Furthermore, lung cancer in non-smokers can arise from exposure to radon, secondhand smoke, air pollution, or other factors. In addition, workplace exposures to asbestos, diesel or exhaust, or certain other chemicals can also cause lung cancers in some people who don’t smoke.

Interestingly, lung cancers in non-smokers often differ from those that occur in smokers. For example, they tend to arise in younger individuals and frequently exhibit certain gene changes that differ from those found in tumors in smokers.

Consequently, In some cases, providers can use these gene changes to guide treatment.

Genetic Changes

Gene changes that may lead to lung cancer. Furthermore, researchers understand how some of the risk factors for lung cancer can cause specific changes in the DNA of lung cells.  Consequently, these changes can lead to abnormal cell growth and, sometimes, cancer. DNA is the chemical in our cells that comprises our genes, which control how our cells function.

Additionally, DNA, which comes from both parents, influences more than just appearance; it can also affect the risk of developing certain diseases, including some types of cancer.

For instance, some genes help control when cells grow, divide to produce new cells, and die: in particular, genes that promote cell growth, division, or survival are called oncogenes.

On the other hand, genes that regulate cell division or trigger cell death at the appropriate time are called tumor suppressor genes.

As a result, cancer can arise from DNA changes that activate oncogenes or deactivate tumor suppressor genes. Ultimately, changes in multiple different genes typically contribute to the development of lung cancer.

Inherited gene changes

Some individuals inherit DNA mutations (changes) from their parents that significantly increase their risk of developing certain cancers. However, researchers do not believe that inherited mutations alone cause many lung cancers. Nevertheless, genes appear to play a role in some families with a history of lung cancer.

For instance, individuals who inherit specific DNA changes in a particular chromosome (chromosome 6) have a higher likelihood of developing lung cancer, even if they don’t smoke or only smoke a little. In addition, some individuals seem to inherit a diminished ability to metabolize or eliminate certain cancer-causing chemicals in the body, such as those found in tobacco smoke.

Consequently, this could heighten their risk for lung cancer. Furthermore, other individuals inherit faulty DNA repair mechanisms that increase the likelihood of DNA changes. Individuals with non-functional DNA repair enzymes may be particularly susceptible to cancer-causing chemicals and radiation.

Moreover, some non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) produce excessive amounts of the EGFR protein (which arises from an abnormal EGFR gene). Specifically, this specific gene change occurs more frequently with adenocarcinoma of the lung in young, non-smoking, Asian women, but researchers have also observed the excess EGFR protein in more than 60% of metastatic NSCLCs.

Acquired Gene Changes

Researchers typically find that, in general, gene changes related to lung cancer are acquired during life rather than inherited.

Specifically, acquired mutations in lung cells often arise from exposure to environmental factors, such as cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke.  However, on the other hand, some gene changes may occur purely as random events inside a cell, without an external cause.

Moreover, acquired changes in certain genes, such as the RB1 tumor suppressor gene, are believed to play a significant role in the development of SCLC.

In addition, acquired changes in genes such as the p16 tumor suppressor gene and the K-RAS oncogene are thought to be important in the development of NSCLC.

Furthermore, researchers can observe changes in the TP53 tumor suppression gene and chromosome 3 in both NSCLC and SCLC. Nevertheless, not all lung cancers exhibit the same gene changes, indicating that, consequently, other gene changes remain undiscovered.

Biospecimens

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

Specifically, aamples available include cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Moreover, Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors 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 and matched controls.

Additionally, all our human tissue collections, human specimens and human bio-fluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

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

Moreover, patient’s data is extremely valuable for researchers and is used to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, and other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Specifically, Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and biological samples, including 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 serum, plasma and PBMC.

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

Therefore, 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) from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

Customized Collections

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

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

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

 

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