title: Identification and confirmation of increased fibrinopeptide a serum protein levels in gastric cancer sera by magnet bead assisted MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.
abstract: Gastric cancer is the second most common malignancy and prognosis remains dismal. The reasons for the poor prognosis are the lack of sensitive serum markers for early detection and screening of high-risk individuals as well as the limited treatment options in advanced cancer stages. Using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry after prefractionation of sera with magnet hydrophobic C8 coated beads sera from 14 patients with gastric cancer and 14 healthy controls mass spectra were generated. A peptide fragment was found to be highly elevated in cancer sera and was identified as fibrinopeptide A. To confirm proteome analysis of gastric cancer sera, we then screened a larger series of patients with gastric cancer (n = 99), high-risk individuals (n = 13) and normal controls (n = 111) for fibrinopeptide A serum levels. Interestingly, the mean logarithmic concentrations of serum fibrinopeptide A levels were significantly higher in cancer patients (mean 3.636 +/- 0.3738; p < 0.0001) and high-risk individuals (mean 3.569 +/- 0.4722; p < 0.05) compared to normal controls (mean 3.303 +/- 0.4012). In contrast, we observed no association of fibrinopeptide A levels with tumor stage, tumor location, presence of regional or distant metastasis, and Lauren type of gastric cancer. In conclusion, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry of prefractionated gastric cancer sera allows the identification of potential biomarkers that may lead to the development of serum based tests for screening of high-risk individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, München, Germany. matthias.ebert@lrz.tum.de
authors.forename: Matthias P A
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Ebert
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Niemeyer
authors.forename: Sören O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Deininger
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wex
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knippig
authors.forename: Juliane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sauer
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Malfertheiner
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Röcken
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015415:Biomarkers; D005260:Female; D005344:Fibrinopeptide A / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D044967:Serum / Q000737:chemistry*; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / Q000379:methods*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D005344:Fibrinopeptide A