Mass spectrometry used to test BTCC biomarkers

Scientists have tested potential biomarkers for bladder transitional cell carcinoma (BTCC).

Published in Proteome Science, the study was conducted by Hongjie Li, Changying Li, Huili Wu, Ting Zhang, Jin Wang, Shixin Wang and Jiwu Chang.

Known as one of the most common types of neoplasia in males, BTCC could be better tackled with urinary tumour biomarkers, the scientists suggest.

Samples from patients with low malignant and aggressive BTCC, as well as healthy subjects, were taken and tested using mass spectrometry and two-dimensional electrophoresis.

This revealed an increase in five proteins in patients suffering from either aggressive or low malignant BTCC.

Meanwhile, further testing illustrated that in cases of aggressive BTCC, the expression of Apo-A1 was "significantly increased".

"Taken together, our findings suggest Apo-A1 could be a potential biomarker related with early diagnosis and classification in two-tie grading system for bladder cancer," commented the team.

Proteome Science is an online journal that publishes open-access, peer-reviewed research.