Nuclear magnetic resonance and surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry-based metabolome profiling of urine samples from kidney cancer patients.

Kidney cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers of the urinary tract in the world. Despite significant advances in kidney cancer treatment, no urine specific biomarker is currently used to guide therapeutic interventions. In an effort to address this knowledge gap, metabolic profiling of urine samples from 50 patients with kidney cancer and 50 healthy volunteers was undertaken using high-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR) and silver-109 nanoparticle enhanced steel target laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (109AgNPET LDI MS). Twelve potential urine biomarkers of kidney cancer were identified and quantified using one-dimensional (1D) 1H NMR metabolomics. Seven mass spectral features which differed significantly in abundance (p < 0.05) between kidney cancer patients and healthy volunteers were also detected using 109AgNPET-based laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI MS). This work provides a framework to expand biomarker discovery that could be used as useful diagnostic or prognostic of kidney cancer progression.