Metabolomics: a revolution for novel cancer marker identification.
The repertoire of small-molecular-weight substances present in cells, tissue and body fluids are known as the metabolites. The global analysis of metabolites, such as by high-resolution ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, is integral to the rapidly expanding field of metabolomics, which is making progress in various diseases. In the area of cancer and metabolic phenotype, the integrated analysis of metabolites may provide a powerful platform for detecting changes related to cancer diagnosis and discovering novel biomarkers. In this review, metabolomics including the technologies in metabolomics research and extracting information from metabolomics datasets are described. Then we discuss the challenges and opportunities in metabolomics for finding metabolic processes in cancer and discovering novel cancer biomarkers. Finally, we assess the clinical applicability of metabolomics.
State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Qian
Q
Bu
Yina
Y
Huang
Guangyan
G
Yan
Xiaobo
X
Cen
Ying-Lan
YL
Zhao
D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor