Types Of Human Biospecimens
A selection of the types of human biospecimens that we can acquire.
If you don’t see the type of biospecimen you need, please contact us for further information.
Biofluids (other)
- Urine
- Stool
- Saliva
- Swabs
- Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF)
- Bone Marrow Aspirate
- Synovial Fluid
Tissue
- Fresh Tissue
- Frozen Tissue
- Fixed Tissue
- FFPE
- Tissue Microarray (TMA)
- Slides
- Dissociated Tumor Cells
Cells & Other
- Myoblasts
- Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells
- Epithelial Cells
- Protein Lysates
- DNA
- RNA
Biofluids (other)
- Urine
- Stool
- Saliva
- Swabs
- Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF)
- Bone Marrow Aspirate
- Synovial Fluid
Tissue
- Fresh Tissue
- Frozen Tissue
- Fixed Tissue
- FFPE
- Tissue Microarray (TMA)
- Slides
- Dissociated Tumor Cells
Cells & Other
- Myoblasts
- Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells
- Epithelial Cells
- Protein Lysates
- DNA
- RNA
Diseases and Indications
A selection of the diseases/indications for which we can obtain human biospecimens.
If you don’t see the disease/indication you need, please contact us for further information.
- Healthy Subjects
- Breast Cancer
- Bladder Cancer
- Colorectal Cancer
- Endometrial Cancer
- Gastric Cancer
- Head and Neck Cancer
- Kidney Cancer
- Leukemia
- Liver Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Lymphoma
- Ovarian Cancer
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Prostate Cancer
- Skin Cancer
- Thyroid Cancer
- Alzheimer’s
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Bell’s Palsy
- Epilepsy
- Huntington’s Disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Neuromuscular Disorders
- Parkinson’s Disease
- COVID-19
- Dengue
- Hepatitis
- HIV
- Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
- Influenza (Flu)
- Pneumonia
- Sepsis
- Chromosome Disorders
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Huntington’s Disease
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Rare Cancers
- Fibromyalgia
- Gout
- Lupus
- Osteoarthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Psoriatic Arthritis
- Arrhythmias
- Congenital Heart Disease
- Coronary Artery Diease
- Cardiomyopathy
- Stroke
- Vascular Disease
- Endometriosis
- Menopause
- Pregnancy
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
- Polyps
Our Network of Biospecimen Providers
We work with a worldwide network of biospecimen providers, including academic/hospital biobanks and a variety of other providers. We only work with biospecimen providers who meet our strict standards with regards to biospecimen quality and ethical compliance.
It is our priority to ensure that we can source all types of biospecimens. As a result, we are constantly looking to add new providers to our network. If you are a biospecimen provider, please contact us for more information about joining our network.
Types of Biospecimen Collections
There are two main types of biospeimen collections: prospective and retrospective. At SampleSmart, we can initiate either a prospective or retrospective collection of samples in order to meet your specific biospecimen needs.
Prospective Collection
The collection of biospecimens from subjects in the future (ie. the samples do not already exist).
Custom or Ongoing
There are two types of prospective collections that occur:
Ongoing – IRB/IEC approval for a general collection protocol is already in place and sample collection is ongoing.
Custom – IRB/IEC approval is not yet in place and a custom protocol will need to be drafted and approved prior to starting the biospecimen collection.
Examples:
- Fresh biospecimens (ie. blood, tissue, swabs, saliva, etc.)
- FFPE tissue blocks (not already available as stored samples)
- Frozen plasma (not already available as stored samples)
Retrospective Collection
The collection of biospecimens that have previously been collected and stored (ie. the samples already exist).
Stored
There are two main sources of stored biospecimens:
Diagnostic Remnant Samples – The remnants of samples collected as part of routine clinical care.
Banked Samples – Samples collected and stored by biobanks (academic, hospital, or other) for the purpose of future use in R&D.
Examples:
- Frozen serum (diagnostic remnant)
- FFPE tissue block (diagnostic remnant)
- Frozen tissue sample
- Frozen PBMCs
Example Biospecimen Requests
Cutting edge life science research often requires very specific biospecimen collection criteria.
We have the expertise to help you formulate the exact specifications to match your needs.
With our network of providers, we have the resources to supply even the most difficult to find samples.
- Healthy subjects
- 30 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- Blood collected into K2EDTA vacutainers
- 3-4 mL plasma per subject
- Samples shipped on dry ice
- Data: Age, Gender, Country
- Breast cancer
- 50 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- Stage I-III
- Any grade
- Treated or untreated subjects
- Surgical resections
- > 50% tumor content
- < 10% necrosis
- Data: Age, Gender, Country, Diagnosis, Cancer stage (TNM), Grade, Treatments (if applicable)
- Lung cancer
- 10 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- NSCLC only
- Any stage
- Untreated subjects only
- ~200 mg tissue per subject
- Samples must arrive within 24-48h of collection
- Data: Age, Gender, Country, Diagnosis, Cancer Stage and Grade, Tissue size (mg)
- COVID-19
- 100 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- Nasal mid-turbinate samples
- Symptomatic subjects only
- Data: Age, Gender, Country
- Healthy subjects
- 30 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- Blood collected into K2EDTA vacutainers
- 3-4 mL plasma per subject
- Samples shipped on dry ice
- Data: Age, Gender, Country
- Lung cancer
- 10 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- NSCLC only
- Any stage
- Untreated subjects only
- ~200 mg tissue per subject
- Samples must arrive within 24-48h of collection
- Data: Age, Gender, Country, Diagnosis, Cancer Stage and Grade, Tissue size (mg)
- Breast cancer
- 50 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- Stage I-III
- Any grade
- Treated or untreated subjects
- Surgical resections
- > 50% tumor content
- < 10% necrosis
- Data: Age, Gender, Country, Diagnosis, Cancer stage (TNM), Grade, Treatments (if applicable)
Example Biospecimen Requests
Cutting edge life science research often requires very specific biospecimen collection criteria.
We have the expertise to help you formulate the exact specifications to match your needs.
With our network of providers, we have the resources to supply even the most difficult to find samples.
- Healthy subjects
- 30 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- Blood collected into K2EDTA vacutainers
- 3-4 mL plasma per subject
- Samples shipped on dry ice
- Data: Age, Gender, Country
- Breast cancer
- 50 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- Stage I-III
- Any grade
- Treated or untreated subjects
- Surgical resections
- > 50% tumor content
- < 10% necrosis
- Data: Age, Gender, Country, Diagnosis, Cancer stage (TNM), Grade, Treatments (if applicable)
- Lung cancer
- 10 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- NSCLC only
- Any stage
- Untreated subjects only
- ~200 mg tissue per subject
- Samples must arrive within 24-48h of collection
- Data: Age, Gender, Country, Diagnosis, Cancer Stage and Grade, Tissue size (mg)
- COVID-19
- 100 subjects, 1 sample per subject
- Nasal mid-turbinate samples
- Symptomatic subjects only
- Data: Age, Gender, Country
