Ciereszko A, et al. - Using two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE), researchers performed a comparative analysis of blood samples (depleted of albumin and IgG) obtained from lung cancer patients before chemotherapy vs after a second cycle of chemotherapy. Eight patients with non-cancerous lung diseases comprised the control group, and four adenocarcinoma (ADC) and four squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patients comprised the experimental group. In analyses of gels, control patients and lung cancer patients exhibited significant changes in proteins and/or their proteoforms, both before and after a second cycle of chemotherapy. These proteins were mostly related to inflammation, including acute phase proteins (APPs) such as forms of haptoglobin and transferrin, complement component C3, and clusterin. Findings suggest the potential utility of the variable expression of APPs for profiling lung cancer. Transferrin and serotransferrin showed the greatest changes after chemotherapy, which likely indicate disturbances in iron turnover after chemotherapy-induced anemia. They also noted significant changes in plasma proteins between ADC and SCC patients, inferring the utility of plasma vitronectin as a potential marker of SCC.