Abstract: Objective To explore the use of surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) technology in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis and lung cancer.  Method The serum samples were collected from 65 tuberculosis patients and 65 lung cancer patients. Serum proteins were captured using WCX2 chips, then scanned and analyzed using chip reader PBSⅡ.  Results Comparing the serum protein data from 65 pulmonary tuberculosis cases and 65 lung cancer cases, four protein peaks (5 335 m/z, 8 048 m/z, 11 700 m/z, and 11 683 m/z) were significantly different between tuberculosis and lung cancer (P<0.01). This diagnostic model had an accuracy of 74.6% (97/130), sensitivity of 80% (52/65)，and specificity of 69.2% (45/65).  Conclusions SELDI-TOF-MS technique can potentially provide a new simple, rapid, and non-invasive method for the differential diagnosis of tuberculosis and lung cancer patients.

Key words: tuberculosis,pulmonary/diagnosis, lung neoplasms, diagnosis,differential, spectrometry,mass,matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionizayion, blood preteins