Site Search:

October 27, 2003: We are exploring a new potential method for diagnosing individuals with osteosarcoma and other forms of cancer. This method is known as Surface Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionization (SELDI) mass spectrometry, and it is capable of identifying the presence of specific proteins that are unique signatures for cancer. To aid in this research project, we have recently purchased two new pieces of equipment and a specialized computer software package that will permit us to process patient samples far more rapidly and accurately.

Certain proteins that can potentially serve as signatures of malignancy can be found circulating in the blood stream and are believed to originate at the tumor site. Each group of cells that make-up a particular organ within the body have a unique group of proteins which set that organ apart from other organs within the body. Bone cancer cells would therefore also be expected to produce a unique set of proteins that can distinguish these cells from all of the other cells in the body, including healthy bone cells.

Using the SELDI technique several laboratories have shown that a variety of very early stage cancers could be detected in individuals with outstanding reliability. Therefore, one of our goals is to identify, in the circulatory system of individuals, specific patterns of expressed proteins that can discriminate between individuals with and without osteosarcoma. We hope to identify those individuals with the disease long before they develop any symptoms of this disease, and while the disease is at its earliest stages of development, which is when it can be treated most successfully.

Two new pieces of equipment and a specialized computer software package will allow us to improve our speed and accuracy when processing patient samples. One piece of equipment, known as an auto-loader, will permit us to analyze as many as 240 patient samples each evening. This piece of equipment is a minature robot that can be programmed to work at night before the research scientist returns to work the next day - loading individual samples into the mass spectrometer so they can be analyzed for protein profile data. Currently the analysis process requires a full 8 hour working day. However, with the auto-loader, the laboratory scientist can begin analyzing the data the following morning and preparing the next experiment in the proposed study.

A second piece of equipment known as a biomek 2000 sample handling robot will be programmed to perform the complex series of experimental steps involving the addition of specific solutions and washing agents required to analyze the patient samples. This robot eliminates the possibility of errors being made during the liquid handling ("pipetting") phases of the analysis. Such errors can interfere with accurate data collection. The robot will also free the scientist to analyze the data from the previous days work and to plan the next experiment.

The new computer software purchased will allow the laboratory scientist to efficiently manage the data collected within the laboratory. It will also allow the researcher to evaluate the data gathered in these studies using all the protein- and gene-related databases available online to speed the identification of those proteins that are unique markers of osteosarcoma.

Together, these new instruments and software will permit us to better use the SELDI mass spectrometry technique, develop better diagnostic tools for identifying individuals with early stage osteosarcoma, improve the monitoring of those patients undergoing treatment for the disease, and ultimately speed the discovery of new drugs that would target only the osteosarcoma cells and not healthy cells within the patient's body.