Analysis of renal cell carcinoma as a first step for developing mass spectrometry-based diagnostics

J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2012 Oct;23(10):1741-9. doi: 10.1007/s13361-012-0447-2. Epub 2012 Jul 31.

Abstract

Immediate diagnosis of human specimen is an essential prerequisites in medical routines. This study aimed to establish a novel cancer diagnostics system based on probe electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (PESI-MS) combined with statistical data processing. PESI-MS uses a very fine acupuncture needle as a probe for sampling as well as for ionization. To demonstrate the applicability of PESI-MS for cancer diagnosis, we analyzed nine cases of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) by PESI-MS and processed the data by principal components analysis (PCA). Our system successfully delineated the differences in lipid composition between non-cancerous and cancerous regions. In this case, triacylglycerol (TAG) was reproducibly detected in the cancerous tissue of nine different individuals, the result being consistent with well-known profiles of ccRCC. Moreover, this system enabled us to detect the boundaries of cancerous regions based on the expression of TAG. These results strongly suggest that PESI-MS will be applicable to cancer diagnosis, especially when the number of data is augmented.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Carcinoma, Renal Cell / chemistry*
  • Carcinoma, Renal Cell / diagnosis
  • Histocytochemistry / methods
  • Humans
  • Kidney / chemistry*
  • Kidney Neoplasms / chemistry*
  • Kidney Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Molecular Imaging / methods*
  • Phospholipids / chemistry
  • Principal Component Analysis
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / methods*
  • Triglycerides / chemistry

Substances

  • Phospholipids
  • Triglycerides