RATIONALE: Studying samples of blood from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in DNA and identify biomarkers related to cancer.

PURPOSE: This research study is looking at blood samples from patients with non-small cell lung cancer and from healthy volunteers.

OBJECTIVES:

• Measure plasma cathepsin D levels in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and in healthy volunteers using mass spectometry.
• Measure fatty acid synthase levels in these patients and healthy volunteers using mass spectometry.

OUTLINE: Blood samples are collected from patients and healthy volunteers to measure the levels of cathepsin D and fatty acid synthase by proteomic profiling and mass spectrometry.

Inclusion Criteria:

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

• Documented diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer, any stage and any time point in the course of treatment (i.e., at diagnosis, during any treatment, and during post treatment surveillance)
• Measurable disease by CT scan within the past 4 weeks

Healthy volunteer

• Non-smoking, defined as < 5 packs/year history of smoking and cessation of smoking ≥ 6 months ago OR a never smoker

  • Not regularly exposed (i.e., daily) to second-hand smoke

Exclusion Criteria:

• Severe underlying lung disease (i.e., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with FEV_1 < 1.0 L, pulmonary fibrosis, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, etc.) as determined by enrolling researcher.

Written consent must be given for both subjects and controls.

Subjects who have non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will be recruited from the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota. Controls will be non-smoking individuals, age matched to the NSCLC subjects recruited through advertising. Normal controls should not be regularly exposed to second hand smoke.