Professor Toshihide Nishimura, Tokyo Medical University, Japan

Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples have been extensively collected and stored in hospitals for decades and are a huge untapped information resource on the progression of diseases as well as drug response and toxicity. The use of this invaluable material has been limited to Immunohistochemistry and RNA analysis until now, but new technologies and a focused research initiative called the ‘Star Alliance’ have emerged to change this. In a project at Tokyo Medical University, protein extracted from laser microdissected lung and endocrine carcinoma FFPE tissue collections are analyzed retrospectively, using state-of-the-art MS-based proteomic methodologies.

This research initiative among Tokyo Medical University, Biosys Technologies, Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX, Leica Microsystems and Gene Data is aiming to identify metastatic biomarkers of non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) for the discovery and validation of new protein drug targets.

Professor Toshihide Nishimura, in the Department of Surgery at Tokyo Medical University and scientific advisor of Expression Pathology Inc, said: "Our proteomics ‘Star Alliance’ proves to be of outstanding value. Targeted Quantitative Proteomics methods, using the Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX 4000 QTRAP® system and MIDAS™ Software, enable verification and validation of biomarker candidates discovered from FFPE samples." Professor Nishimura went on to say that "Using our ‘Tissue to Serum’ strategy, MRM-based quantification of biomarkers in serum that are secreted in blood enables early diagnosis of disease. An MS-based assay using the 4000 QTRAP® system may be of major use at the clinical stage and we are investigating its use to replace the more traditional antibody-based ELISA assay."