UPLC and MS systems purchased by the National Cancer Institute

Waters has announced that the National Cancer Institute's Centre for Cancer Research in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, has purchased one of the company's ACQUITY UPLC/Synapt High Definition Mass Spectrometers (HDMS) and an ACQUITY UPLC/Xevo TQ MS system for the centre's metabolomics research programmes.

The research is aimed at discovering small molecule metabolites, or biomarkers, associated with cancer susceptibility and diagnosis, treatment efficacy and the adverse effects of medicines and other chemicals. Identifying and quantifying the thousands of metabolic biomarkers present in a complex sample such as urine requires sensitive instruments and powerful software. Researchers are confident that these tools will lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of the disease and its diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

The UPLC system employs 1.7 micron particles in analytical columns that the company claims permit higher chromatographic resolution, shorter analysis times and the use of less solvent per sample. Paired with tandem quadrupole and quadrupole time-of-flight/ion mobility mass spectrometry, the reported sharper chromatographic peaks, increased peak heights and better signal-to-noise performance of UPLC technology improves the mass spectrometer's ability to ionize molecules. The MS system is an advanced tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer that tackles the most demanding quantification applications for target compounds at low concentrations in highly complex and diverse samples.

For more information on the National Cancer Institute visit www.cancer.gov

More information about Waters and its products are available at www.waters.com