The applications of metabolomics in the molecular diagnostics of cancer.

The applications of metabolomics in the molecular diagnostics of cancer. Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2019 Aug 15;: Authors: Cheung PK, Ma MH, Tse HF, Yeung KF, Tsang HF, Chu MKM, Kan CM, Cho WCS, Ng LBW, Chan LWC, Wong SCC Abstract Introduction: Metabolomics, the study of metabolites, is a promising research field for cancers. The metabolic pathway in a tumor cell is different from a normal tissue cell. There are two approaches to study the metabolism, targeted and untargeted. The general approach is that metabolomic data are interpreted by bioinformatics tools correlating with metabolomic databases to obtain significant findings. With the use of specific analysis tools, such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometer (MS) combined with chromatography, metabolic profile or metabolic fingerprint of various biological specimens could be obtained. The applications of metabolomics are used to discover potential cancer biomarkers and monitor the metastatic state, therapeutic and drug response for better patient management. Areas covered: In this review, the author introduce metabolomics and discuss the use of metabolomics approaches in different cancers, including the study of colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer and breast cancer using NMR and MS. Expert opinion: Knowledge on the molecular basis of cancer metabolism and its potential clinical applications has been improving recently. However, there...
Source: Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics - Category: Laboratory Medicine Tags: Expert Rev Mol Diagn Source Type: research