Gastric cancer is the second most common malignancy and prognosis remains dismal. The reasons for the poor prognosis are the lack of sensitive serum markers for early detection and screening of high-risk individuals as well as the limited treatment options in advanced cancer stages. Using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry after prefractionation of sera with magnet hydrophobic C8 coated beads sera from 14 patients with gastric cancer and 14 healthy controls mass spectra were generated. A peptide fragment was found to be highly elevated in cancer sera and was identified as fibrinopeptide A. To confirm proteome analysis of gastric cancer sera, we then screened a larger series of patients with gastric cancer (n = 99), high-risk individuals (n = 13) and normal controls (n = 111) for fibrinopeptide A serum levels. Interestingly, the mean logarithmic concentrations of serum fibrinopeptide A levels were significantly higher in cancer patients (mean 3.636 +/- 0.3738; p < 0.0001) and high-risk individuals (mean 3.569 +/- 0.4722; p < 0.05) compared to normal controls (mean 3.303 +/- 0.4012). In contrast, we observed no association of fibrinopeptide A levels with tumor stage, tumor location, presence of regional or distant metastasis, and Lauren type of gastric cancer. In conclusion, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry of prefractionated gastric cancer sera allows the identification of potential biomarkers that may lead to the development of serum based tests for screening of high-risk individuals.

The published studies of the frequency of the splenic metastasis are autopsy studies, which are not usable for epidemiological statements because of selection bias. We show that splenic metastases arise in less than 1% of all metastases. A splenectomy in case of splenic metastases makes sense, if the metastases are isolated. It is also meaningful as a debulking procedure that would be followed by a chemotherapy, e.g. in case of an ovarial carcinoma. As a result the survival is increased for patients undergoing splenectomy (median survival 19.5 vs. 3 months).

The article contains sections titled: 1. Introduction 2. Properties 2.1. Physical Properties 2.2. Chemical Properties 3. Production 3.1. Acrolein by Propene Oxidation 3.2. Methacrolein 4. Quality and Analysis 5. Handling, Storage, and Transportation 6. Uses and Production Data 7. Toxicology and Ecotoxicology 7.1. Toxicology 7.2. Ecotoxicology Acrolein is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It is an important intermediate in the production processes of a variety of substances. The main use of isolated acrolein is in the production of d,l ‐methionin, but in far more production processes, acrolein is used without purification. Acrolein is an extremely reactive chemical and, in very low concentrations, acts as a very effective broad‐spectrum biocide. Methacrolein is produced commercially as an organic intermediate, which is used as building block for chain expansions or, in limited application, in the synthesis of flavors and fragrances.