Bay Biosciences provides high quality, clinical grade FFPE tissue blocks bio-samples with matching sera (serum), plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) biofluid specimens from patients with thymus cancer.

Moreover, we process the serum, plasma, and PBMCs from patients’ peripheral whole blood using customized processing protocols.

Furthermore, our clinical team collects the human thymus bio-specimens from unique thymus cancer patients and which are provided to a valued pharmaceutical customer for research, development, and drug discovery.

Thymus Overview

The Thymus gland serves as a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system located in the upper front part of the chest behind the sternum and between the lungs. Consequently, it remains active only until puberty.

After puberty, the thymus starts to slowly shrink (atrophy) and becomes replaced by fat. Nevertheless, its effect in “training” T lymphocytes to fight infections and even cancer lasts for a lifetime.

Moreover, the Thymus gland plays an important role in immunoregulation in both the immune system and endocrine system.

Thymosin is the hormone that scientists find in the thymus, and it stimulates the development of disease-fighting T cells. Specifically, within the thymus, thymus cell lymphocytes or T-cells mature.

Hence, T-cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts specifically to foreign invaders. In addition to their function in maintaining a balanced immune system, thymosin may, in fact, play a significant part in the initiation of the aging process.

Furthermore, the Thymus gland is largest and most active during the neonatal and pre-adolescent periods. By the early teens, however, the thymus begins to decrease in size and activity, and fatty tissue gradually replaces the tissue of the thymus. Nevertheless, some T cell development continues throughout adult life.

Thymus Cancer

Cancer that starts in the thymus is rare; in fact, there are fewer than one case per 100,000 patients diagnosed in the United States each year. Furthermore, the cause of this cancer type remains unclear.

Moreover, cancers of the thymus are generally one of three types:

  • First, Thymoma,
  • Second, Thymus carcinoma (also known as type C thymoma),
  • And in addition, thymus carcinoid (neuroendocrine) tumor, which is, notably, rarer compared to Thymoma and Thymus carcinoma.

In addition, the two main kinds of thymus cancers, thymoma and thymic carcinoma, are both rare. Specifically, thymomas and thymic carcinomas are rare tumors of the cells that are on the outside surface of the thymus.

To elaborate, the tumor cells in a thymoma resemble the normal cells of the thymus, grow slowly, and rarely spread beyond the thymus.

On the other hand, the tumor cells in a thymic carcinoma differ significantly from the normal cells of the thymus; they grow more quickly and usually spread to other parts of the body when doctors find the cancer.

As a result, thymic carcinoma is more difficult to treat than thymoma.

 

Thymoma

Most thymus cancers are thymoma. Specifically, cancer cells develop on the gland’s surface and appear similar to normal thymus cells. Moreover, thymoma grows slowly, rarely spreading beyond the thymus.

Consequently, the following autoimmune conditions have been linked to thymoma. Furthermore, treatment for these following conditions may lead doctors to discover the thymoma.

In particular, thymoma links with myasthenia gravis and many other autoimmune diseases. Additionally, patients with thymoma often have the following autoimmune diseases as well; these autoimmune diseases, in turn, cause the immune system to attack healthy tissue and organs:

Thymus Carcinoma (Type C Thymoma)

On the other hand, less than 1 percent of thymus cancers are thymus carcinoma. Specifically, cancer cells develop on the thymus gland’s surface; however, unlike thymoma, these cancer cells look very different from normal cells, are aggressive, and tend to grow and spread quickly.

As a result, thymus carcinoma is more challenging to treat and has a higher rate of recurrence. Therefore, doctors divide thymus carcinoma into subtypes, depending on the cell type in which the cancer began.

Thymus Carcinoid (neuroendocrine) Tumor

Carcinoid or neuroendocrine tumors are called cancer in slow motion because they start small and grow slowly. Specifically, thymus carcinoid tumors account for 5 percent of thymus cancers.

Moreover, about 25 percent of thymus carcinoids occur in patients with a genetic syndrome called multiple endocrine neoplasia Type 1 (MEN1) syndrome. In addition, another cancer type associated with the thymus is lymphoma.

Furthermore, the thymus produces white blood cells called T-lymphocytes, which help protect the body from infection. Consequently, if lymphocytes become cancerous, they can develop into lymphoma.

Signs and Symptoms of Thymus Cancer

However, thymus cancers don’t typically cause symptoms; thus, often the symptoms can mistakenly be attributed to a cold or flu. For this reason, the following are some of the initial signs and symptoms of thymus cancer:

  • First, a cough that doesn’t go away
  • Second, chest pain
  • Trouble breathing

Additionally, carcinoid tumors in the thymus sometimes release hormones that may cause symptoms, including:

Diagnosis of Thymus Cancer

Ultimately, getting the right diagnosis is key to receiving the best treatment and outcomes for cancer. In fact, doctors often discover thymus cancer incidentally, through testing such as a chest x-ray or treatment for other conditions such as autoimmune disorders.

Diagnosis requires a biopsy, in which a small sample of the suspicious tissue is removed and examined under a microscope. Various ways to diagnose the thymus include:

  • Fine-Needle Aspiration (FNA): This is a biopsy procedure where a thin needle removes a sample of tumor cells from the affected area.
  • Core Biopsy: In this procedure wide needle is used to remove a larger sample of tumor cells from the affected or suspected area.
  • Mediastinoscopy: A thin, tube-like instrument called mediastinoscope, with a light and viewing lens is inserted through an incision at the base of the neck above the breastbone. Tissue samples can be taken from the thymus and/or nearby lymph nodes.
  • Mediastinotomy (Chamberlain Procedure): A tube inserted through an incision on the side of the breastbone is used to view the thymus. A biopsy tissue may be taken from the thymus and nearby lymph nodes.
  • Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS): This is a minimally-invasive procedure involving only small incisions, through which a tiny camera (thoracoscope) and surgical instruments are passed, allowing surgeons to operate inside the chest, guided by the video transmitted to a monitor. VATS is used for both diagnosing (biopsy) and treating thymus cancers.

    Other diagnostics tests may include:

  • Computed Tomography (CT) Scan: X-rays are taken from various angles and assembled by computer to produce detailed pictures inside the body. Sometimes a dye is injected to help certain organs or tissue show up more clearly.
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scans: A magnet, radio waves and computer are used to create detailed pictures inside the body to identify the disease.
  • Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scan: A small amount of radioactive glucose is injected into a vein and a scanner rotates around the body taking pictures. Malignant cells appear brighter in the scan because they use more glucose.
  • Octreotide Scan (OctreoScan): A small amount of radioactive octreotide (a hormone that attaches to certain tumors) is injected into a vein and a special camera captures the radioactivity to reveal the tumor.

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.