Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging for tumor detection

Routine clinical tumor detection requires pathologists to stain tumor tissue sections and examine the pathological morphology of the tissue under a microscope. Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI) has been proven to be a reliable and powerful tool for imaging analytes in biological samples. In particular, DESI-MSI allows the direct visualization of the distribution of metabolites and lipids in tissues, thus enabling in-depth understanding of cancer-associated biochemical changes within specific structures. In recent years, researchers have used mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to study various cancer-related clinical issues, including detecting the tumor, finding biomarkers of cancer, and diagnosing tumor margin. In this paper, we aim to summarize the principle of using DESI-MSI to detect cancer in clinical research, including fundamentals, sample preparation process, applications in different cancers. We reviewed representative publications about using DESI-MSI to diagnose cancer from healthy tissue. From the applications we summarized, DESI-MSI is expected to be a potential tool for tumor detection without time- consuming experiments. Compared with traditional histological staining methods, DESI-MSI offers faster, more reliable, and label-free molecular information, which can potentially transform intraoperative cancer diagnosis. Future improvements in imaging resolution, data interpretation, and standardized protocols will further enhance its clinical applicability.