Affiliations: Tissue Proteomics Unit, Division of Therapeutic
Proteins, CBER, Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA | Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute,
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA | Department of Chemistry, Georgetown University,
Washington, DC 20057, USA | Department of Urology, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, MD 21287, USA | Department of Surgery, Georgetown University,
Washington, DC 20007, USA | Department of Surgery, Sibley Hospital, Washington, DC
20010, USA
Abstract: Nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) has been used for many years as a
potential non-invasive method to identify markers for breast cancer risk or
early detection. Because individual markers have not been optimal, we are
exploring the use of surface enhanced laser desorption and ionization time of
flight (SELDI-TOF) mass spectrometry to identify patterns of proteins that
might define a proteomic signature for breast cancer. SELDI-TOF was used to
analyze a study set of NAF samples that included 12 women with breast cancer
and 15 healthy controls (the latter included three women with an abnormal
mammogram but subsequent normal biopsy). In this preliminary report, we present
data showing that SELDI analysis of NAF is rapid, reproducible, and capable of
identifying protein signatures that appear to differentiate NAF samples from
breast cancer patients and healthy controls, including those with an abnormal
mammogram who were later proven to be biopsy normal.
