Mass cytometry-based peripheral blood analysis as a novel tool for early detection of HCC and PDAC

Early detection of a tumor remains an unmet medical need, and approaches with high sensitivity and specificity are urgently required. Mass cytometry time-of-flight (CyTOF) is a powerful technique to profile immune cells. A multicenter study in China found that CyTOF profiling of immune cells in peripheral blood could assist in early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. For HCC, the peripheral blood immune score combined with AFP and CA19-9 had an AUC of 0.99, 0.97 and 0.96 in training, internal validation, and external validation cohorts. For PDAC, the corresponding AUCs were 0.99, 0.98, and 0.97.