Bay Biosciences provides high-quality biopsy tissue samples, formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks, with matched fresh frozen sera (serum), plasma, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) bio-fluids, from patients diagnosed with stage-4 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The sera (serum), plasma and PBMC biofluid specimens are processed from patient’s peripheral whole-blood using customized collection and processing protocols from stage-4 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Fresh frozen tissue and matched biofluid samples are collected from unique patients diagnosed with stage-4 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Bio-samples are provided to a valued pharmaceutical customer for research, diagnostics, discovery and drug development.
Stage-4 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Stage-4 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), also called metastatic lung cancer, is the most advanced stage of NSCLC disease. It refers to any size and type of NSCLC (adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, large cell carcinoma) that has spread from one lung to the other lung.
It can also spread to another region of the body, or to the fluid around the lung or heart. Stage 4 NSCLC is not curable but it is treatable.
Almost 40% of patients who learn they have lung cancer are already at stage 4 of the disease when they are newly diagnosed.
About 90% of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking and the use of tobacco products. However, other factors such as radon gas, asbestos, air pollution exposures, and chronic infections can contribute to lung carcinogenesis.
In recent years, several advances in treatments of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have significantly improved survival.
Staging Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
The first step to diagnosing stage-4 cancer is an X-ray or computed tomography (CT) scan, but a lung biopsy is usually necessary to make a clear determination.
To determine what stage your cancer is, healthcare providers use a standard system from the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC). It is called the TNM system, with each letter in the acronym standing for a different observable characteristic of the cancer.
- Tumor (T): Pathologists measure the size of the primary tumor and how close it is to other body organs.
- Nodes (N): Several tests are performed to determine whether the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes.
- Metastasis (M): Using scans, biopsies, genetic testing, or other means, doctors check whether lung cancer cells have spread to distant organs such as the brain, bones, adrenal glands, liver, or the other lung.
Numbers or letters are used after the T, N, and M notations to indicate how advanced the tumor, lymph node progression, and metastases are.
Stage-4 cancer is broken into two groups: 4A and 4B (with 4B being the most advanced).
| Cancer Stage | T, N, M Designations | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 4A | T1, T2, T3, or T4 N1, N2, or N3 M1a or M1b |
Size: Any
Spread: Cancer has spread to lymph nodes and/or other parts of the body M1a metastases criteria: M1b metastases criteria: |
| 4B | T1, T2, T3, or T4 N1, N2, or N3 M1c |
Size: Any
Spread: Cancer has spread to lymph nodes and/or other parts of the body. M1c metastases criteria: More than one tumor has spread to distant lymph nodes. and/or to other organs outside the chest. |
Signs and Symptoms of Stage-4 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Stage-4 non-small cell lung cancer symptoms may vary based on the location of tumors and how far the cancer has spread.
Following are the signs and symptoms of due to the presence of a tumor in the lungs:
- Coughing up blood (hemoptysis)
- Fatigue
- Hoarseness in voice
- Loss of appetite
- Pain the arms, back, chest or shoulders
- Persistent cough
- Repeated episodes of pneumonia or bronchitis
- Shortness of breath
- Unexplained Weight Loss
- Wheezing
As cancer metastasizes, symptoms are related to the area where the cancer has spread. Following are the signs and symptoms when the cancer has metastasized:
- Abdominal Pain and jaundice (a yellowing of the skin) from a tumor that has spread to the liver
- Headaches, memory loss, vision problems, and weakness if a tumor has spread to the brain
- Pain in the back, hips, shoulders, and chest when cancer has spread to the bone
- Difficulty swallowing due to a tumor being in the esophagus
Treatment of Stage-4 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Because stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer has spread beyond the lungs, it is considered inoperable. But stage 4 lung cancer is treatable. New medications have helped NSCLC patients live longer, fuller lives while managing the cancer.
Targeted Therapies
Using in-depth genetic testing (molecular profiling) of the tumor, healthcare providers are able to identify genetic mutations in cancer cells. Based on this data, they can plan a personalized approach to your care and incorporate targeted therapies, medications that act on these genes to stop the cancer progression.
Your doctor will probably recommend that you undergo genetic testing before you begin any other treatment. If these biomarker tests reveal that tumors show DNA changes, there may be medications that you can take that will target those mutations.
For instance, if there is an EFGR mutation, it means that cancer cells are carrying out cell division at an excessive rate. You may then be given tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), targeted therapy drugs that send signals to the cells to stop that growth.
These TKIs don’t work for all EFGR mutations, though. In May 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Rybrevant (amivantamab-vmjw) for patients who have the third-most common kind of EGFR mutations, called EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations. This different kind of targeted therapy may help patients with this mutation when cancer has progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy treatments.
Medications are approved by the FDA for several other genetic abnormalities, including ALK, ROS-1, NTRK, MET, RET, and BRAF V600E. The drug Lumakras (sotorasib) is one example: It targets the KRAS G12C mutation, found in about 13% of people with NSCLC. It was approved in May 2021 for use in patients with advanced or metastatic disease after other therapies have been tried.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy used to be the main option available to advanced lung cancer patients. These medications kill cancer cells, but they also have difficult-to-manage side effects that not all patients are able to tolerate. With new chemotherapy drugs, side effects are less severe and there is the benefit of long survival with treatment.
If genetic testing shows no treatable genomic alterations, chemotherapy will likely be recommended, often along with immunotherapy. Chemo may also be used alone as palliative care for those with very advanced cancer who want to ease their symptoms.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is another newer type of treatment for lung cancer that stimulates your own immune system to recognize and fight cancer cells.
Patients who have tumors that are PD-L1 positive and/or have a high number of mutations, called a high tumor mutational burden, may respond best to these medications. Those who have genomic alterations, such as EGFR mutations, tend not to respond as well.
While immunotherapy don’t work for everyone, some patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer have experienced long-term control of their disease with these medications.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy such as stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), delivers high doses of radiation directly to a tumor to kill it. This won’t stop aggressive stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, but it may be recommended as palliative therapy.
This can be helpful for some patients to control symptoms of brain metastases, bone pain, bleeding from the lungs, or difficulty breathing caused by tumors that are obstructing the airways.
Clinical Trials
Treatments for lung cancer are continually being researched and improved upon. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) runs clinical trials that test new treatments for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
Prognosis
Overall 5-year survival rate for stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer is approximately only 4% but can be much higher in certain populations. The median survival time (time at which 50% of patients are alive and 50% have died) is about eight months.
Coping
Most patients hesitate to talk about end-of-life issues, discussing these with your family and your doctor is important.
Just as cancer affects patients physical health, it can bring up a wide range of feelings you’re not used to dealing with. It can also make existing feelings seem more intense.
They may change daily, hourly, or even minute to minute. This is true whether you’re currently in treatment, done with treatment, or a friend or family member.
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.
Samples available are cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma cancer PBMC and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.
Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own bio-repository, human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors available in all formats and types.
Our biobank procures and stores fully consented, deidentified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples and matched controls.
All our human tissue collections, human specimens and human bio-fluids are provided with detailed samples associated patient’s clinical data.
This critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers and genetic information.
Patient’s data is extremely valuable for researchers and is used to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, other therapeutic areas and diseases.
Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and biological samples including cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.
Including fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, FFPE’s, tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood derived products such as serum, plasma and PBMC’s.
Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the researchers specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.
Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.
Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:
- Peripheral whole-blood,
- Amniotic fluid
- Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL)
- Sputum
- Pleural effusion
- Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
- Serum (sera)
- Plasma
- Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC’s)
- Saliva
- Buffy coat
- Urine
- Stool samples
- Aqueous humor
- Vitreous humor
- Kidney stones (renal calculi)
- Other bodily fluids from most diseases including cancer.
We can also procure most human bio-specimens and can-do special collections and requests of 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, PBMC bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols, you can buy donor specific sample collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.
Bay Biosciences also provides human samples from normal healthy donors, volunteers, for controls and clinical research, contact us Now.
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