Advanced MS Technology Identifies Cancer Biomarkers

Researchers using liquid phase isoelectric-focusing electrophoresis to augment matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis (MALDI-TOF MS) of human serum were able to detect 262 different peptide and protein ion signals, including one that may be a specific biomarker for lung cancer.

The protein identified by this novel methodology is serum amyloid A, which is elevated in the blood of lung cancer patients but not in the blood of normal individuals. This protein was previously associated with certain cancers and inflammatory conditions, but this is the first time it has been detected with MALDI-TOF MS technology. "Using a MALDI-TOF MS platform is a particularly exciting advance because current diagnostic tools, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) scans, have had no obvious impact on lung cancer mortality rate over the last several decades,” explained contributing author Dr. Edward Patz, professor of radiology and pharmacology at Duke University (Durham, NC, USA).

Two papers published in the September 2003 issue of Proteomics address the fact that the overall five-year survival rate for lung cancer victims remains about 14%, despite major advances in genomics and drug discovery. "The biology of lung cancer may have been played out by the time we detect a tumor using imaging studies like PET and CT scans,” said Dr. Patz. "This is why we are trying to develop very sensitive biomarkers that can detect the disease in high-risk individuals early enough to treat them successfully. Our technique is a new paradigm for identifying protein targets in cancer, because we are zeroing in on the disease-causing protein itself rather than searching for a defective gene and then hunting down its relevant proteins.”




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