title: Radiation-related changes in serum proteome profiles detected by mass spectrometry in blood of patients treated with radiotherapy due to larynx cancer.
abstract: The study aimed to detect features of human serum proteome that were associated with exposure to ionizing radiation. The analyzed group consisted of 46 patients treated with radical radiotherapy for larynx cancer; patients were irradiated with total doses in a range from 51 to 72 Gy. Three consecutive blood samples were collected from each patient: before the start, 2 weeks after the start, and 4-6 weeks after the end of radiotherapy. The low-molecular-weight fraction of the serum proteome (2,000-13,000 Da) was analyzed by the MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry. Proteome profiles of serum samples collected before the start of radiotherapy and during the early stage of the treatment were similar. In marked contrast, mass profiles of serum samples collected several weeks after the end of the treatment revealed clear changes. We found that 41 out of 312 registered peptide ions changed their abundance significantly when serum samples collected after the final irradiation were compared with samples collected at the two earlier time points. We also found that abundances of certain serum peptides were associated with total doses of radiation received by patients. The results of this pilot study indicate that features of serum proteome analyzed by mass spectrometry have potential applicability as a retrospective marker of exposure to ionizing radiation.
authors.affiliation: Maria Skłodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, Gliwice, Poland. widlak@io.gliwice.pl
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Widłak
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pietrowska
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wojtkiewicz
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rutkowski
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wygoda
authors.forename: Lukasz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marczak
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marczyk
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Polańska
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Walaszczyk
authors.forename: Iwona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Domińczyk
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Składowski
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stobiecki
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polański
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000528:radiation effects; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D020543:Proteome / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D001798:Blood Proteins; D020543:Proteome