Protein profiles in sera of patients with malignant cutaneous melanoma

Seventeen samples of sera from patients with malignant cutaneous melanoma a t various stages and 14 samples from healthy subjects were analysed by matr ix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry. Results highlighted the presence of several protein species at molecular weights lo ,ver than 30000 Da, presumably originating from proteolysis, in the sera of the patients with melanoma, These species were completely absent in health y subjects. In particular, the presence and abundance of species with molec ular weights in the range 2500-3500 Da exhibit significant variations relat ed to the different clinical stages of the disease. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.