Types of Lung Cancers

Lung cancers are classified into the following two main types:

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Small-Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC)

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Majority of the lung cancer (NSCLC) cases in the United States, around 85% are Non-small Cell Lung cancers (NSCLC). The main subtypes of NSCLC are adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. These subtypes, which start from different types of lung cells are grouped together as NSCLC because their treatment and prognoses (outlook) are often similar.

Types of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Following are the sub-types of Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC):

Adenocarcinoma: Lung Adenocarcinomas start in the glandular cells that normally secrete substances such as mucus and tends to develop in smaller airways, such as alveoli. Lung Adenocarcinoma cancers occurs mainly in patients who are current or former smokers, but it is also the most common type of lung cancer seen in non-smokers. It is more common in women than in men, and it is more likely to occur in younger people than other types of lung cancer. Adenocarcinoma is mostly found in the outer edges of the lung, it tends to grow slowly than other lung cancer, and is usually likely to be detected before it has spread to other organs and parts of the body. Patients with a type of adenocarcinoma called adenocarcinoma in situ (previously called bronchioloalveolar carcinoma) tend to have a better outlook than those with other types of lung cancer.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Squamous cell carcinomas is a lung cancer which starts in flat cells that line the inside of the airways in the lungs, which are called squamous cells. Squamous cell carcinomas are usually linked to patients who have a history of smoking. Squamous cell carcinomas are mostly found in the central part of the lungs, near a main airway (bronchus).

Large Cell (undifferentiated) Carcinoma:  Large cell carcinoma can develop in any part of the lung. It tends to grow and spread quickly, which can make it harder to treat. A subtype of large cell carcinoma, known as large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, is a fast-growing cancer that is very similar to small cell lung cancer.

Other subtypes: There are few other subtypes of Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), such as adeno-squamous carcinoma and arcomatoid carcinoma, are rare and not as common as adenocarcinomas or squamous cell carcinomas.

Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC)

Around 20% of lung cancers diagnosed in the United States are  found to be small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Small-cell lung cancer is more aggressive form of lung cancer, it tends to grow quickly and spread faster than Non-small SCLC to other organs and parts of the body, metastasize more easily. About 70% of patients with SCLC will have cancer that has already spread at the time they are diagnosed. Since this cancer grows quickly, it tends to respond well to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Unfortunately, for most patients, the SCLC cancer will return at some point and long term survival is not common. Small cell lung cancer may also be referred to as oat cell cancer, oat cell carcinoma, and small cell undifferentiated carcinoma.

Other Types of Lung Cancers

In addition to the above main types of lung cancer, other forms of cancer (tumors) can also develop in the lungs. Following are some of the additions types of tumors that can occur in the lungs:

Lung carcinoid tumors: Carcinoid tumors of the lung are rare and account for fewer than 5% of lung tumors. cancers that form from neuroendocrine cells in the lungs are called lung carcinoid tumors. Most of these carcinoid tumors grow slowly.

Other lung tumors: Other types of lung cancer such as adenoid cystic carcinomas, lymphomas, and sarcomas, as well as benign lung tumors such as hamartomas are rare. These are treated differently from the more common lung cancers and are not discussed here.

Cancers that spread to the lungs: Cancers that start in other organs (such as the breast, liver, pancreas, kidney or skin) can sometimes spread (metastasize) to the lungs, but these are not lung cancers. For example, cancer that starts in the breast and spreads to the lungs is still breast cancers, not lung cancer. Treatment for metastatic cancer to the lungs is based on where it started or the primary cancer site.

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.