Power of metabolomics in diagnosis and biomarker discovery of hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the commonest primary hepatic malignancy and the third most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Incidence remains highest in the developing world and is steadily increasing across the developed world. Current diagnostic modalities, of ultrasound and a-fetoprotein, are expensive and lack sensitivity in tumor detection. Because of its asymptomatic nature, HCC is usually diagnosed at late and advanced stages, for which there are no effective therapies. Thus, biomarkers for early detection and molecular targets for treating HCC are urgently needed. Emerging highthroughput metabolomics technologies have been widely applied, aiming at the discovery of candidate biomarkers for cancer staging, prediction of recurrence and prognosis, and treatment selection. Metabolic profiles, which are affected by many physiological and pathological processes, may provide further insight into the metabolic consequences of this severe liver disease. Small-molecule metabolites have an important role in biological systems and represent attractive candidates to understand HCC phenotypes. The power of metabolomics allows an unparalleled opportunity to query the molecular mechanisms of HCC. This technique-driven review aims to demystify the metabolomics pathway, while also illustrating the potential of this technique, with recent examples of its application in

Acetylcarnitine Is a Candidate Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…Metabolomics is a powerful high-throughput platform that measures low molecular weight metabolites in biologic samples, and it has recently been used to elucidate biochemical pathways of various human diseases and simultaneously offers an opportunity for discovering novel biomarkers (13,14). Current metabolomics studies on hepatocellular carcinoma are mainly focused on identifying significant metabolites in serum/ urine samples with the aim of revealing systemic metabolic changes caused by hepatocellular carcinoma and finding potential biomarkers with clinical application (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22).…”

Dimethylnitrosamine-Induced Reduction in the Level of Poly-ADP-Ribosylation of Histone Proteins of Blood Lymphocytes - a Sensitive and Reliable Biomarker for Early Detection of Cancer

“…Early detection of cancer continues to be a formidable challenge to the scientific community and search for a suitable biomarker for use in mass screening of population is of utmost importance in our fight against cancer (Khan et al, 2012;Luna et al, 2012;van der Bilt et al 2012;Bao et al, 2013;Hensing and Salgia, 2013;Suradej et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2013;Behrens et al, 2014;Sigari et al, 2014). Constant efforts are being made worldwide to find an effective and reliable biomarker and a convenient assay for early detection of cancers, especially in its initiation stage, which is when a cell gets committed to transformation.…”

Lipid Metabolism in Liver Cancer

“…Emerging metabolomic technologies represent a powerful platform to dissect global metabolite profiles in an unbiased manner and to discover novel biomarkers and pathways in liver oncogenesis [8]. This high-throughput strategy may complement the other omics technologies (genomics, proteomics, and others) to improve diagnosis, prognostication, and tumor therapy in HCC.…”

“…The emerging metabolomic technologies enable hepatologists and biologists to have a panorama view of a highly complex and dynamic flux of small metabolites in liver diseases [8]. This methodology includes high-throughput analytical mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and multivariate data analysis, permitting unbiased comparison of "global" profiles of hundreds to thousands of metabolites between samples from two or more liver disease status.…”