MSACL 2019 US Abstract

Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry as a Tool for Diagnosis of Thyroid Nodules from Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsies

Rachel J. DeHoog (1), Jialing Zhang (1), John Lin (1), Spencer Woody (1), Elizabeth Alore (2), Wendong Yu (2), Robert Tibshirani (3), Christopher Almendariz (1), Anton F Engelsman (4), Stan B Sidhu (4), James Suliburk (2) and Livia S. Eberlin (1)
(1) University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA (2) Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA (3) Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA (4) University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

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Rachel DeHoog (Presenter) University of Texas at Austin

Presenter Bio: As an undergraduate student at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA, I pursued a B.S. degree in chemistry where I worked with Dr. Allan Nishimura in a physical chemistry lab studying thermally induced energy transfer in organic layers deposited on an alumina surface. Upon graduation from Westmont College, I decided to pursue graduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where I joined Dr. Livia Eberlin’s lab in the field of clinical mass spectrometry. My PhD research goal is to develop and apply ambient ionization mass spectrometry techniques to address clinical challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with endocrine diseases. Towards this goal, I have been working on two major projects: 1. improving pre-operative diagnosis of thyroid FNA biopsies; 2. improving intraoperative tissue typing and diagnosis.

Relevant Financial Disclosures (within past 24 months) No relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose. Discussing Products? NO, presenter will NOT present educational content related to products/services of the ineligible company(ies) listed above. Conflict mitigation NOT REQUIRED.

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy is a well-established technique for diagnosis of suspicious thyroid lesions. However, histologic discrimination between malignant and benign thyroid nodules from FNA can be challenging. Here, we employ desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI) to diagnose thyroid lesions based on the molecular profiles obtained from FNA biopsy samples. DESI-MSI was used characterize malignant thyroid carcinomas and benign thyroid tissues based on molecular profiles. Classification models were generated using the lasso statistical method. These models were then used to predict disease status of thyroid lesions based on the mass spectral profile obtained from FNA material.