A detection method for early-stage ovarian cancer has been developed using ultrahigh‑pressure liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC–HRMS) in combination with tandem MS–MS.
Photo Credit:
Science Photo Library - SUSAN ARNOLD/ NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE/Getty Images
A detection method for early-stage ovarian cancer has been developed using ultrahigh–pressure liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC–HRMS) in combination with tandem MS–MS.1 Ovarian cancer is the biggest killer of all gynaecological cancers and the fifth–leading cause of death among women in the United States. Current screening methods are inadequate, requiring lengthy procedures that are inaccurate.
A considerable challenge to researchers, ovarian cancer is “almost always asymptomatic in the early stages,” noted researcher John McDonald of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA. Survival rates for late-stage ovarian cancer is low but if the disease is detected early, overall survival rates increase dramatically (>92%). “Being able to accurately detect the disease at early stages will make a big difference,” said McDonald.
In developing the new method, researchers used UHPLC–MS and MS–MS in combination with a customized support vector machine to identify 16 diagnostic markers that produced an accuracy level of 100% within the test group. “We are currently initiating studies to determine if our test can prospectively detect ovarian cancer at early stages in high risk women, for example women who are BRCA positive,” said McDonald, referring to mutations of the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes, which are associated with higher risks for breast and ovarian cancer. “The frequency of ovarian cancer onset in these women is quite high, making this a good cohort in which to test the clinical utility of our test,” he continued.
The study results also provide evidence for the importance of lipid and fatty acid metabolism in ovarian cancer. “It’s still not completely clear what the significance is of the observed changes in lipid and fatty acid metabolism in ovarian cancer patients,” McDonald told The Column. “However, there is a growing body of evidence indicating that these changes may play a regulatory role in fostering a cascade of molecular changes that promote the development of ovarian cancer.” It is hoped that targeting the enzymes involved in lipid and fatty acid metabolism will be a promising new area for ovarian cancer therapy in the near future.
The research team are currently planning to expand this study to include a wider range of ethnic and racial groups because of a recognized lack of diversity within the test group. The learning algorithm approach used by the team to identify the biomarkers is designed to identify which metabolites are optimally predictive of disease among the group of women analyzed in the study. “While we strove to include women from broad geographic areas in our study, not all ethnic and racial groups were represented,” he said. “Thus, at this point, we cannot be assured that the 16 biomarkers identified in our study will be 100% accurate in predicting early ovarian cancer across all women.” This may prove difficult because ovarian cancer is rarely identified at the early stages and therefore serum samples are extremely rare. - L.B.
Reference
D.A. Gaul et al., Sci. Rep.5, 16351; doi: 10.1038/srep16351 (2015).
Pittcon 2025: Xiao Su Discusses His Work in Electrochemical Separations
March 13th 2025In this video interview with Xiao Su, he dives deeper into the research that he and his team are conducting with redox-active polymers and the applicability of electrochemical approaches in separation science.
The Next Frontier for Mass Spectrometry: Maximizing Ion Utilization
January 20th 2025In this podcast, Daniel DeBord, CTO of MOBILion Systems, describes a new high resolution mass spectrometry approach that promises to increase speed and sensitivity in omics applications. MOBILion recently introduced the PAMAF mode of operation, which stands for parallel accumulation with mobility aligned fragmentation. It substantially increases the fraction of ions used for mass spectrometry analysis by replacing the functionality of the quadrupole with high resolution ion mobility. Listen to learn more about this exciting new development.
Pittcon 2025: Kate Perrault Uptmor Talks About Multidimensional GC and Mentorship
March 13th 2025In our interview with Kate Perrault Uptmor, we asked her about the resources available for those interested in learning more about multidimensional chromatography, and current trends happening in separation science that are of particular note.
Analyzing Effects of Adverse Cardiovascular Events on Chronic Kidney Disease with HPLC
March 13th 2025Researchers investigated the potential association between plasma apolipoprotein M (APOM) levels and the risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Plasma sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) levels were measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).