Classification of Invasive Melanoma by Imaging Mass Spectrometry

MALDI mass spectrometry is a technology that allows molecular measurements to be taken directly from tissue surfaces at specified coordinates without requiring antibodies or specialized reagents. This technology is ideally suited to provide molecular information to support and augment pathological decision points. In these experiments, a trained pathologist annotates regions of interest, and mass spectra can be collected directly from those regions. The mass spectrum represents a profile of ions from molecules from discrete locations. This process, called histology-directed mass spectrometry, can be used to augment pathological decision points. By collecting mass spectra from tissues with known pathology, a machine learning classification model can be trained to classify spectra taken from regions of tissue with unknown pathological states.

We will discuss important factors relevant to setting up a clinical assay, including quality control and quality assurance metrics. Finally, we will discuss the performance of our assay for the detection of melanoma from human skin biopsies.

What you will learn:

• Overview of Histology-directed Imaging Mass Spectrometry
• Assay development considerations when designing histology-directed IMS experiments
• Factors affecting quality control and quality assurance in MALDI-based clinical assays
• Case studies of melanoma diagnosed through MALDI IMS and histology-directed IMS

Who should attend:

• Pathologists who are considering mass spectrometry-based assays to study or diagnose disease
• Mass Spectrometrists who are interested in pursuing diagnostic assays
• Scientists who are interested in quality control and quality assurance in MALDI-based assays

For Research Use Only. Not for use in clinical diagnostic procedures.

Presenter: Jessica L. Moore (Director of Mass Spectrometry, Frontier Diagnostics, LLC)

Jessica Moore entered the field of Imaging Mass Spectrometry at Vanderbilt University, where she performed doctoral research at the National Research Resource for Imaging Mass Spectrometry. She currently serves as the Director of Mass Spectrometry at Frontier Diagnostics, where she develops MALDI-based assays for clinical diagnostics.