Roles of Lipid Profiles in Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

Aims: This review aims to identify lipid biomarkers of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in human tissue samples and discuss the roles of lipids in tissue molecular identification, the discovery of potential biomarkers, and surgical margin assessment. Methods: A review of the literature focused on lipid-related research using mass spectrometry (MS) techniques in human NSCLC tissues from January 1, 2015, to November 20, 2020, was conducted. The quality of included studies was assessed using the QUADAS-2 tool. Results: Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The risk of bias was unclear in the majority of the studies. The contents of lipids including fatty acids, phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, phosphatidyl inositol, cardiolipin, phosphatidyl serine, phosphatidyl glycerol, ceramide, lysophosphatidylethanolamine, lysophosphatidylcholine, and lysophosphatidylglycerol differed significantly between cancer and healthy tissues. The sensitivity or specificity of the discrimination model was reported in 8 studies, and the sensitivity and specificity varied among the reported methods. The lipid profiles differed between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma NSCLC subtypes. Conclusion: In preclinical studies, MS analysis and multiple discrimination models can be combined to distinguish NSCLC tissues from healthy tissues based on lipid profiles, which provides a new opportunity to evaluate the surgical margin and cancer subtype intraoperatively. Future studies should provide guidance for selecting patients and discrimination models to develop an improved method for clinical application.

Significant metabolic alterations in non-small cell lung cancer patients by epidermal growth factor receptor-targeted therapy and PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy

“…Glycerophospholipid metabolism is highly related to the development and progression of cancer ( Yang et al, 2022 ). A review of 12 articles showed that the phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, cardiolipin, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylglycerol, ceramide, lysophosphatidylethanolamine, lysophosphatidylcholine, and lysophosphatidylglycerol levels were significantly different between NSCLC and normal tissues ( Jianyong et al, 2021 ), which was consistent with what we observed in the serum of NSCLC patients. After treatment with EGFR-TKIs or PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, the levels of various glycerol phospholipids tended to decrease to levels similar to those in the HC group, indicating that these two treatments may block the dysregulation of lipid metabolism in tumor cells to a certain extent to exert antitumor therapeutic effects.…”

A Systematic Role of Metabolomics, Metabolic Pathways, and Chemical Metabolism in Lung Cancer

“…NFY (Nuclear factor Y) is a transcriptional factor that may identify CCAAT boxes in the promoter and is also involved in the lipogenesis process and other biological functions. NFY was also found to be upregulated in the LC samples with a poor clinical outcome [ 129 ].…”

“…Studies have focused on the importance of fatty acids and phospholipids in NSCLC [ 129 ]. Serum lipidome screening in NSCLC patients has identified phosphatidylcholine and lysophosphatidylcholines as major diagnostic biomarkers for the LC [ 130 ].…”

Lipid biomarkers that reflect postoperative recurrence risk in lung cancer patients who smoke: a case–control study

“…With the recent advancements in mass spectrometry technology, lipidomics has been utilized as a new field for exploring cancer biomarkers [ 12 ]. Cancer cells exhibit a common phenotype of uncontrolled proliferation, and their lipid metabolism is altered to generate energy and biomass components efficiently [ 13 , 14 ].…”