Original Article


Protein Profiles Correlated with Recurrence of Early Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Zhe-ming Lu, Shao-lin Hong

Abstract

Objective: To elucidate protein markers that differentiate stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that subsequently develop metastatic disease to those that do not develop metastasis by protein expression profiles.
Methods: Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and two dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) platforms were used to separate proteins in whole tumor specimens. Quantitating mRNA expression was used for validation.
Results: Twelve proteins were identified as expressed differentially between two groups from protein expression platforms. But from gene expression platform no marker could distinguish patients with recurrent vs. nonrecurrent disease.
Conclusion: Analysis of multiple protein markers may be more informative to predict prognosis of early stage lung cancer.