title: Decreased serum levels of free fatty acids are associated with breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Changes in the levels of lipids are associated with breast cancer (BC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Disease-specific serum free fatty acids (FFAs) were quantified using chip-based direct-infusion nanoelectrospray ionization-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (CBDInanoESI-FTICR MS) in the negative ion mode. Multiple point internal standard calibration curves between the concentration ratios of fatty acids (i.e., C16:1, C18:3, C18:2, C18:1, C20:4, and C22:6) to internal standards (C17:1 for C16:1, C18:3, C18:2, and C18:1, C21:0 for C20:4 and C22:6) and their corresponding intensity ratios were established with a correlation coefficient of greater than 0.986.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data from 342 serum samples including 202 healthy controls and 140 BC patients indicate that serum concentrations of FFAs in patients with BC were significantly decreased compared with those in healthy controls. A panel of C16:1, C18:3, C18:2, C20:4, and C22:6 showed an excellent diagnostic ability to differentiate the patients with early stage BC from healthy controls, with the area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve of 0.953, a sensitivity of 83.3%, and a specificity of 87.1%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that these FFAs may be a valuable biomarker panel for the early-stage detection of BC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics and Structural Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Yaping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Medicine Center, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130033, PR China.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory, Jilin University Second Hospital, Changchun 130041, PR China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Medicine Center, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130033, PR China. Electronic address: chengyanhe469@vip.sina.com.
authors.forename: Chengyan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics and Structural Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China. Electronic address: lizhili@ibms.pumc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhili
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified
keywords: Biomarker; Breast cancer; Free fatty acids; Serum