Context: Systemic treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) with targeted therapies became widely accepted; however, there are few patients who greatly benefit from immunochemotherapy (ICT). It is crucial to recognize these patients for individual treatment.
Objectives: Definition of protein patterns in tissue and serum from mRCC-patients to predict benefit from ICT.
Materials and methods: Twenty-five tissue samples and 59 sera were analysed by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS). Protein peaks of interest were identified by 2D-PAGE and peptide mass fingerprinting. Validation was carried out by Western Blot and ELISA.
Results: Protein patterns associated with therapy response were determined. Caveolin-1 (CAV-1) and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) were identified in tissue; serum amyloid A (SAA) and transthyretin (TTR) were found in serum.
Conclusion: Individual prediction of therapy benefit and selecting patients for ICT based on molecular biological profiles appear to be feasible in the future.