Biomarker discovery for ovarian cancer using SELDI-TOF-MS.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to discover potential biomarkers for the detection and monitoring of adjuvant chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.


METHODS
Serum samples from ovarian cancers and non-cancer controls were analyzed using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS). To discover the possible diagnostic biomarker for ovarian cancer, a preliminary training set of spectra derived from 31 primary ovarian cancer patients, 16 patients with benign ovarian diseases, and 25 healthy women was used to develop a proteomic model that discriminated cancer from non-cancer effectively. A blind test set, including 43 new cases, was used to validate the sensitivity and specificity of this multivariate model. To explore treatment-induced serum protein change, the protein profiles generated from 16 postoperative patients before chemotherapy are compared with those obtained after chemotherapy.


RESULTS
A Four-peak model was established in the training set that discriminated cancer from non-cancer with sensitivity of 90.8% and specificity of 93.5%. A sensitivity of 87.0% and a specificity of 95.0% for the blind test were obtained, compared with 60.7%, 55% for CA125 for the same samples. These 4 markers performed significantly better than the current standard marker, CA125 (P < 0.05). One protein peak (mass/charge ratio [m/z], 4,475) was identified in 12 of 16 (75%) postoperative patients after chemotherapy, but was absent before chemotherapy.


CONCLUSIONS
The proteins represented by these peaks are candidate biomarkers for ovarian cancer diagnosis and/or monitoring treatment response.
Zhang
Hui
H
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Ji'nan 250012, Shandong Province, PR China.
Kong
Beihua
B
Qu
Xun
X
Jia
Lin
L
Deng
Biping
B
Yang
Qifeng
Q
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / Q000379:methods
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D001798:Blood Proteins