Surface-enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionisation Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry to Detect Breast Cancer Markers in Tears and Serum.

Background: New biomarkers are needed to improve the early detection of breast cancer. This study describes the use of surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (SELDI-TOF-MS) in serum and tear fluid.
Materials and Methods: Blood and tear fluid of 10 women with breast cancer and 10 healthy age-matched women were screened for potential biomarkers. Blood samples and tear fluid were drawn prior to surgery. SELDI-TOF-MS were used for protein profiling with three different active surfaces of the protein chips. The data were analyzed by multivariate statistical techniques and artificial neural networks.
Results: Complex protein and peptide patterns were found on all three surfaces. We identified the main proteins in tear fluid. Statistically significant differences in the protein pattern (p<0.001) were found between breast cancer patients and healthy controls. The diagnostic pattern differentiated cancer patients from controls with a specificity and sensitivity of approximately 90% in serum and tear fluid.
Conclusion: Protein chip technology facilitates the discovery of new and better biomarkers in breast cancer. It is a promising approach to analyse a large number of patients with high sensitivity and specificity. Analysing tear fluid could show some advantages.