Early Diagnosis and Prognosis Prediction of Pancreatic Cancer Using Engineered Hybrid Core-Shells in Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry.

Effective detection of bio-molecules relies on the precise design and preparation of materials, particularly in laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS). Despite significant advancements in substrate materials, the performance of single-structured substrates remains suboptimal for LDI-MS analysis of complex systems. Herein, we develop designer Au@SiO 2 @ZrO 2 core-shell substrates for LDI-MS-based early diagnosis and prognosis of pancreatic cancer (PC). Through controlling Au core size and ZrO 2 shell crystallization, we not only achieved signal amplification of metabolites up to 3 orders but also revealed the synergistic mechanism of the LDI process. The optimized Au@SiO 2 @ZrO 2 enables a direct record of serum metabolic fingerprints (SMFs) by LDI-MS. Subsequently, we employed SMFs to distinguish early PC (stage I/II) from controls, with an accuracy of 92%. Moreover, we established a prognostic prediction scoring system with enhanced efficacy in predicting PC survival compared to CA19-9 (p < 0.05). Our work contributes to material-based cancer diagnosis and prognosis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.