KEY TAKEAWAYS
- TThe study aimed to investigate the metabolomic profile of MPE to identify biomarkers for EGFR mutations in patients with NSCLC.
- Researchers noticed significant amino acid alterations in MPE aiding accurate diagnosis; further investigation is ongoing.
Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common complication of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients with NSCLC exhibit a high rate of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. The detection of EGFR mutations is usually time-consuming and costly.
Jiangqing Yu and the team aimed to identify the potential biomarkers of EGFR mutations in MPE of patients with NSCLC by metabolomics.
They performed an inclusive analysis, analyzing 58 MPE samples from 30 EGFR mutant and 28 wild-type patients with NSCLC using hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR)-based metabolomics and UPLC-MS/MS-based amino acid analysis.
The 1H NMR study revealed a significant increase in lysine levels and a notable decrease in alanine levels in MPE of patients with NSCLC and EGFR mutation. Twelve amino acids in MPE were further analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS, showing significantly decreased alanine levels (6.34 ± 1.88 vs. 8.73 ± 3.68) and increased levels of leucine (3.13 ± 0.57 vs. 2.22 ± 0.13), lysine (2.19 ± 0.50 vs. 1.53 ± 0.40), and tyrosine (2.69 ± 0.71 vs. 1.89 ± 0.46) in EGFR mutation-positive patients.
Moreover, leucine (2.19 ± 0.50 vs. 1.53 ± 0.40), methionine (2.19 ± 0.50 vs. 1.53 ± 0.40), and threonine (2.19 ± 0.50 vs. 1.53 ± 0.40) levels were significantly lower in EGFR exon 19 mutation compared to exon 21 mutation patients. The logistic model achieved area under the receiver operating characteristic curves of 0.851 and 0.931 for classifying EGFR-mutant patients from wild-type controls and distinguishing between exon 19 and exon 21 mutations, respectively.
The study concluded that amino acid profiles in MPE are significantly altered and aid in accurately diagnosing EGFR-mutant patients from wild-type controls and distinguishing between exon 19 and exon 21 mutations. Further investigation into these biomarkers is warranted.
No funding information was provided.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38868885/
Yu J, Xu H, Feng T, et al. (2024). “Identification of Potential Biomarkers of EGFR Mutation in Pleural Effusion of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Based on Metabolomics.” Clin Lab. 2024 Jun 1;70(6). doi: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2023.231105. PMID: 38868885.
