Proteomic analysis of serum identifies protein changes present in small renal cell carcinoma using surface enhanced laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

Objective To identify the proteomic changes in small (≤3 cm in diameter) renal cell carcinoma (RCC) using surface enhanced laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry technology. Methods One hundred and eleven serum samples were collected, including 30 small RCC cases, 34 renal benign mass cases and 47 healthy persons. The samples were analyzed using IMAC-Cu2+ ProteinChip system by SELDI-TOF-MS technology. Two decision trees were generated by Biomark Pattern 5. 0. 2 software to distinguish small RCC cases from healthy persons and from benign renal masses cases, respectively. Double blind confirmation was applied to each decision tree. Results Both the sensitivity and specificity of the decision tree, which distinguishes small RCC cases from healthy persons, were 100%. The sensitivity and specificity of double blind confirmation procedure were 81. 8% (9/11) and 100% (21/21), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the second decision tree, which distinguish small RCC cases from benign renal masses cases, were 95. 2%(20/21) and 100% (16/16), respectively. After the double blind confirmation, the sensitivity and specificity were 77. 8% (7/9) and 88. 9% (16/18), respectively. Conclusions Two decision trees have been established in this experiment, which can hopefully be used for early diagnosis and deferential diagnosis of small RCC. Potential biomarkers of RCC can possibly be found from 2 proteins with molecular masses of 15 282. 4 and 4 215. 96.