Original Article Combination of immuno-MS and ELISA: a new strategy for detection of cancer

Objective: Currently, detection method for cancer mainly includes biopsy, ultrasound and blood-based biomarkers detection. Although all of these methods are being employed in the clinical practice, they are often characterized by low sensitivity or/and specificity. In this study, we took the liver cancer as an example and com - bined immuno-MS and ELISA to verify the potential biomarker role of pep5 for hepatocellular carcinoma detection. Methods: A polypeptide named pep5 was designed and its antibody was used to detect liver cancer by methods of immuno-MS and ELISA. Proteins were determined using immunoprecipitation and Immunohistochemistry. Result: The data showed that combination of immuno-MS and ELISA can largely improve the sensitivity and specificity of the cancer detection. While the sensitivity and specificity are 74.83% and 71.52% (immuno-MS alone), 67.72% and 97.35% (ELISA alone), the combination of immuno-MS and ELISA can lead to a sensitivity and specificity of 72.78% and 100%, respectively. Immuno-MS and ELISA assay showed that pep5 antibody binds with both pep5 and its precursor protein. Conclusion: The combination of immuno-MS and ELISA may be a new strategy of the detection of cancer, and the pep5 also can be a hopeful serum biomarker for liver cancer.