Background & objective: Although the complete response rate of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is 70%-80% using modern comprehensive treatments, its relapse rate is about 40%-50%. The minimal residual disease (MRD) may be the reason of recurrence. This study was to detect dynamic changes of serum proteomic spectra in NHL patients before and after chemotherapy, thus to screen candidate markers for NHL.
Methods: The proteomic spectra from serum of 44 NHL patients before chemotherapy, 44 NHL patients who achieved complete remission (CR) after chemotherapy, and 51 healthy individuals were analyzed by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) and Ciphergen ProteinChip 3.1 software.
Results: Compared with the normal group, one protein peak (M11710) was up-regulated in untreated NHL group, while was close to the normal level in CR group (P < 0.05); nine other protein peaks (M3322, M4355, M6445, M6646, M8581, M8708, M8918, M13959, M15149) were down-regulated in untreated NHL group, while were close to normal levels in CR group(P < 0.05). Five candidate biomarkers for NHL were screened using the decision tree model.
Conclusions: Expressions of serum proteomic spectra are different before and after chemotherapy in NHL patients. Protein signatures of NHL may be screened using SELDI mass spectrometry combined with ProteinChip software. Those signatures may be helpful in screening MRD, detecting early recurrence and predicting the response to treatments.