KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to investigate the identification of reliable metabolite biomarkers for BC, including TNBC, through serum metabolomics analysis.
- Researchers noticed that serum metabolomics offers promising markers for diagnosing BC, notably TNBC, underscoring its clinical significance.
Breast cancer (BC) stands as the most prevalent malignant cancer among women globally, distinguished by its heterogeneous metabolic disorder and the absence of efficient diagnostic biomarkers.
Sisi Gong and the team aimed to explore dependable metabolite biomarkers for both BC and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) via a serum metabolomics approach.
Researchers performed an inclusive analysis utilizing an untargeted metabolomics technique based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS). They investigated differences in serum metabolic profiles between the BC group (n = 53) and non-BC group (n = 57), also in TNBC patients (n = 23) and non-TNBC subjects (n = 30).
The multivariate data analysis, determination of the fold change, and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to screen out the differential metabolites. Additionally, machine learning methods were used to establish diagnostic biomarker panels, including receiver operating curve analysis and logistic regression analysis.
About 36 metabolites were found to be significantly different between BC and non-BC groups, while 12 metabolites were discovered to differ significantly between TNBC and non-TNBC patients. Results also indicated that four metabolites, including N-acetyl-D-tryptophan, 2-arachidonoylglycerol, pipecolic acid, and oxoglutaric acid, were considered vital biomarkers for diagnosing BC and non-BC, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.995. Another two-metabolite panel of N-acetyl-D-tryptophan and 2-arachidonoylglycerol was discovered to discriminate TNBC from non-TNBC, producing an AUC of 0.965.
The study concluded that serum metabolomics can effectively identify BC specifically and identified promising serum metabolic markers for TNBC diagnosis.
The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38228196/
Gong S, Wang Q, Huang J, et al. (2024). “LC-MS/MS platform-based serum untargeted screening reveals the diagnostic biomarker panel and molecular mechanism of breast cancer.” Methods. 2024 Feb;222:100-111. doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2024.01.003. Epub 2024 Jan 14. PMID: 38228196.
