title: Application of surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with an artificial neural network model for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There are no satisfactory biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) technique has been used to identify biomarkers for cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four hundred thirty five serum samples were tested by SELDI-TOF-MS matching on a gold chip. Samples were assigned to a training set and a testing set according to collection order. The training set was used to identify statistically significant peaks and to develop the artificial neural network (ANN) model for diagnosing HCC. The testing set was used in a blind test to validate the diagnostic efficiency of the ANN model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 75 proteins that differed between patients and controls were identified (p<0.05). Seven of these proteins (p<0.01; m/z at 4207Da, 6604Da, 7734Da, 8106Da, 8545Da, 8599Da, 8894Da) were chosen to develop the ANN model. The model was subjected to a blind test using the testing set for HCC diagnosis. Sensitivity and specificity were 84.00% and 81.25%, respectively, and the accuracy was 81.90%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that patients with HCC may have serum proteins that differ from healthy controls. The ANN is a new method for diagnosing and identifying HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College, Luzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qiongying
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yuanshuai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hualin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Jinbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Kaizheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods*; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D001798:Blood Proteins