Beneficial effect of sequential chemotherapy treatments of lung cancer patients revealed by calorimetric monitoring of blood plasma proteome denaturation

Blood plasma heat capacity profiles of lung cancer patients were recorded by DSC and monitored during a first line chemotherapy cycle including four sessions of treatment by a platinum-based doublet of cisplatin or carboplatin in combination with a third-generation agent (paclitaxel, gemcitabine, or docetaxel). The heat capacity profiles were deconvoluted into the major blood proteome constituent peaks, and the thermodynamic parameters of the peaks -temperature, relative area, and relative maximum heat capacity were determined. The deconvolution procedure allowed identification of characteristic differences from the control profiles of healthy volunteers. As a result of the chemotherapy sessions, the parameters of the thermograms of the patients shifted towards the healthy signature profile, thus providing a specific new, DSC-based criterion that allows evaluating the efficacy of the chemotherapy treatment.