title: Acetylcarnitine Is a Candidate Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
abstract: The identification of serum biomarkers to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma has been elusive to date. In this study, we took a mass spectroscopic approach to characterize metabolic features of the liver in hepatocellular carcinoma patients to discover more sensitive and specific biomarkers for diagnosis and progression. Global metabolic profiling of 50 pairs of matched liver tissue samples from hepatocellular carcinoma patients was performed. A series of 62 metabolites were found to be altered significantly in liver tumors; however, levels of acetylcarnitine correlated most strongly with tumor grade and could discriminate between hepatocellular carcinoma tumors and matched normal tissues. Post hoc analysis to evaluate serum diagnosis and progression potential further confirmed the diagnostic capability of serum acetylcarnitine. Finally, an external validation in an independent batch of 58 serum samples (18 hepatocellular carcinoma patients, 20 liver cirrhosis patients, and 20 healthy individuals) verified that serum acetylcarnitine was a meaningful biomarker reflecting hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis and progression. These findings present a strong new candidate biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma with potentially significant diagnostic and prognostic capabilities. Cancer Res; 76(10); 2912-20. ©2016 AACR.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yonghai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: NUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Jiang
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Kangkang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qingxia
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Shengsen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Mengqi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jinling
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. ephocn@nus.edu.sg mingquanchen@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Mingquan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore. NUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore. ephocn@nus.edu.sg mingquanchen@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Choon Nam
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Ong
mesh_terms: D000108:Acetylcarnitine / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D000108:Acetylcarnitine