Lysophospholipids are potential biomarkers of ovarian cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and other lysophospholipids (LPL) are useful markers for diagnosis and/or prognosis of ovarian cancer in a controlled setting.


METHODS
Plasma samples were collected from ovarian cancer patients and healthy control women in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, Florida, and processed at the University of South Florida H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute (Moffitt). Case patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (n = 117) and healthy control subjects (n = 27) participated in the study. Blinded LPL analysis, including 23 individual LPL species, was performed at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation using an electrospray ionization mass spectrometry-based method. LPL levels were transmitted to Moffitt, where clinical data were reviewed and statistical analyses were performed.


RESULTS
There were statistically significant differences between preoperative case samples (n = 45) and control samples (n = 27) in the mean levels of total LPA, total lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI), sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), and individual LPA species as well as the combination of several LPL species. The combination of 16:0-LPA and 20:4-LPA yielded the best discrimination between preoperative case samples and control samples, with 93.1% correct classification, 91.1% sensitivity, and 96.3% specificity. In 22 cases with both preoperative and postoperative samples, the postoperative levels of several LPL, including S1P, total LPA, and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) levels and some individual species of LPA and LPC, were significantly different from preoperative levels.


CONCLUSIONS
LPA, LPI, LPC, and S1P appear useful as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of ovarian cancer.
Sutphen
Rebecca
R
Department of Interdisciplinary Oncology, College of Medicine and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, 33612, USA. rsutphen@hsc.usf.edu
Xu
Yan
Y
Wilbanks
George D
GD
Fiorica
James
J
Grendys
Edward C
EC
LaPolla
James P
JP
Arango
Hector
H
Hoffman
Mitchell S
MS
Martino
Martin
M
Wakeley
Katie
K
Griffin
David
D
Blanco
Rafael W
RW
Cantor
Alan B
AB
Xiao
Yi-jin
YJ
Krischer
Jeffrey P
JP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008246:Lysophospholipids / Q000097:blood* / Q000145:classification; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000145:classification; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000097:blood; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D010534:Peritoneal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D013110:Sphingosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D008246:Lysophospholipids; C025449:lysophosphatidylinositol; C060506:sphingosine 1-phosphate; D013110:Sphingosine