title: Detection of Metastatic Breast and Thyroid Cancer in Lymph Nodes by Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Imaging.
abstract: Ambient ionization mass spectrometry has been widely applied to image lipids and metabolites in primary cancer tissues with the purpose of detecting and understanding metabolic changes associated with cancer development and progression. Here, we report the use of desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) to image metastatic breast and thyroid cancer in human lymph node tissues. Our results show clear alterations in lipid and metabolite distributions detected in the mass spectra profiles from 42 samples of metastatic thyroid tumors, metastatic breast tumors, and normal lymph node tissues. 2D DESI-MS ion images of selected molecular species allowed discrimination and visualization of specific histologic features within tissue sections, including regions of metastatic cancer, adjacent normal lymph node, and fibrosis or adipose tissues, which strongly correlated with pathologic findings. In thyroid cancer metastasis, increased relative abundances of ceramides and glycerophosphoinisitols were observed. In breast cancer metastasis, increased relative abundances of various fatty acids and specific glycerophospholipids were seen. Trends in the alterations in fatty acyl chain composition of lipid species were also observed through detailed mass spectra evaluation and chemical identification of molecular species. The results obtained demonstrate DESI-MSI as a potential clinical tool for the detection of breast and thyroid cancer metastasis in lymph nodes, although further validation is needed. Graphical Abstract Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging is used to differentiate metastatic cancer from adjacent lymph node tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Jialing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Clara L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Feider
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Chandandeep
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Wendong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Stacey A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suliburk
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Hop S Tran
authors.initials: HST
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA. liviase@utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Livia S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Eberlin
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D020404:Glycerophospholipids / Q000032:analysis; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods*; D013107:Sphingolipids / Q000032:analysis; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D020404:Glycerophospholipids; D006017:Glycolipids; D013107:Sphingolipids
keywords: Ambient mass spectrometry; Cancer staging; Lipid profiles; Mass spectrometry imaging; Metastatic cancer