Advanced Profiling Method based on MELDI–MS For High-Throughput Pattern Analysis in Proteomics

Cancer can, in many cases, be cured if detected at an early, organ-confined stage. To help with early detection, there are considerable efforts to develop new potential biomarkers that improve current diagnosis and prognosis methods for different diseases. Proteomics plays a major role in obtaining further insight into fundamental biological processes and relationships for disease diagnosis.1,2 The major target application of proteomics is to evaluate disease related markers as over- or under-expressed proteins, which help to distinguish between healthy and diseased samples for early diagnosis and can even determine how far the disease has advanced. Although several biomarkers for tumour diseases, such as the prostate-specific antigen (PSA), the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) or the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) have been identified and introduced successfully into clinical practice, their sensitivity and specificity have been limited.