title: Application of metabolomics in thyroid cancer research.
abstract: Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy with four major types distinguished on the basis of histopathological features: papillary, follicular, medullary, and anaplastic. Classification of thyroid cancer is the primary step in the assessment of prognosis and selection of the treatment. However, in some cases, cytological and histological patterns are inconclusive; hence, classification based on histopathology could be supported by molecular biomarkers, including markers identified with the use of high-throughput "omics" techniques. Beside genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics, metabolomic approach emerges as the most downstream attitude reflecting phenotypic changes and alterations in pathophysiological states of biological systems. Metabolomics using mass spectrometry and magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques allows qualitative and quantitative profiling of small molecules present in biological systems. This approach can be applied to reveal metabolic differences between different types of thyroid cancer and to identify new potential candidates for molecular biomarkers. In this review, we consider current results concerning application of metabolomics in the field of thyroid cancer research. Recent studies show that metabolomics can provide significant information about the discrimination between different types of thyroid lesions. In the near future, one could expect a further progress in thyroid cancer metabolomics leading to development of molecular markers and improvement of the tumor types classification and diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, Gliwice Branch, 44-101 Gliwice, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wojakowska
authors.affiliation: Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, Gliwice Branch, 44-101 Gliwice, Poland.
authors.forename: Mykola
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chekan
authors.affiliation: Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, Gliwice Branch, 44-101 Gliwice, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Widlak
authors.affiliation: Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, Gliwice Branch, 44-101 Gliwice, Poland.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pietrowska