The sequencing of the human genome has opened the door for proteomics by providing a sequence-based framework for mining proteomes. As a result, there is intense interest in applying proteomics to foster a better understanding of cancer processes, develop new biomarkers for diagnosis and early detection of cancer. Gastric carcinoma is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and is the most common cause of cancer-related death in China. The main barrier for improving survival rate is short of useful marker for early diagnosis.
A research article to be published on October 7, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team led by Professor Liu from Ruijin Hospital of China isolated and identified differentially expressed proteins between cancer and normal tissues of gastric cancer by 2-DE and MALDI-TOF-MS.
Total proteins were isolated from tumor and normal tissues and then separated by 2-DE. Differentially expressed proteins were isolated and identified by MALDI-TOF or MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS. Twenty three differentially expressed proteins were found between tumor and normal tissues of gastric cancer, among these fifteen proteins were identified. These differential proteins will be candidate markers for gastric cancer. It may be useful for diagnosis, treatment target and prognosis.