OBJECTIVETo determine the specific serum peptide profile by comparing the serum differences between nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients (NPC) and normal control subjects, and to provide a diagnostic model of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

METHODSPre-treatment serum samples of NPC and normal control subjects were collected and assayed by MALDI-TOF MS analysis. The peptides were extracted with magnetic beads coated with WCX. Mass spectrographic data were analyzed with ClinProt(TM) software. The specific serum peptide model of NPC was established by using genetic algorithms. The sensitivity and specificity of model were tested by blind testing.

RESULTSThe serum peptidome patterns of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was obtained. Differential expression of 99 peptide peaks was deteced, and the 808.99 Da, 834.61 Da, 3954.82 Da, 8141.88 Da peptide peaks showing statistically significant differences between the two groups, were used to establish the diagnostic model for nasopharyngeal cancer. The recognition rate and predictive power of the model were 90.0% and 84.3%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 80.0% and 64.0% determined by blind testing, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSSignificant differences of serum peptide peaks are detected between NPC and normal control groups. The established specific serum peptide model may have certain application in the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and provides the basis for discovering specific tumor markers of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.