FULL PAPERS

Plasma metabolomic signatures for predicting pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma survival: The clinical application of targeted mass spectrometry lipidomics. – May 2025

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal human cancers with an overall 5-year survival of 12%. Diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers have the potential to improve early detection and the hope for better outcomes yet efforts to apply genomic risk-stratification to enhance PDAC screening have not proven cost effective (Peters et al., JCO, 2023). We previously reported the application of mass spectrometry to identify PDAC in plasma (D’Amora et al., Metabolites, 2024). We now show that plasma lipidomics provide risk stratification for PDAC survival.

https://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/JCO.2025.43.16_suppl.e16409

 

Plasma metabolic signatures in epithelial ovarian cancer diagnosis: The application of NextGen Metabolomics in gynecologic oncology. – May 2025

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy. The lack of reliable diagnostic tests for early detection has led to the majority of EOC patients being diagnosed with advanced stage disease. Despite advances, most patients continue to suffer recurrence within 5 years following surgery and platinum (CDDP)-based chemotherapy. As malignant transformation is associated with metabolic re-programming, plasma-based biochemical signatures may offer biomarkers for the earlier detection of EOC.

https://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/JCO.2025.43.16_suppl.e17593

 

Use of plasma metabolomic profile to predict breast cancer survival: Risk stratification based on tumor nutrient dependencies. – May 2025

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of the disease. The propensity of cancer cells to exploit exogenous nutrient sources (auxotrophy) may offer insights into breast cancer aggressiveness. We applied plasma targeted mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to quantify metabolites in Stage I-III breast cancer patients to assess the impact of metabolic reprogramming on survival.

https://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/JCO.2025.43.16_suppl.e12545

 

Diagnostic and Prognostic Performance of Metabolic Signatures in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: The Clinical Application of Quantitative NextGen Mass Spectrometry – Feb 2024

With 64,050 new diagnoses and 50,550 deaths in the US in 2023, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the most lethal of all human malignancies. Early detection and improved prognostication remain critical unmet needs. We applied next-generation metabolomics, using quantitative tandem mass spectrometry on plasma, to develop biochemical signatures that identify PDAC.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10972340/

 

Platinum resistance in gynecologic malignancies: Response, disease free and overall survival are predicted by biochemical signature: A metabolomic analysis – Oct 2021

Platinum resistance, defined as the lack of response or relapse within six months of platinum-based chemotherapy, is an important determinant of survival in gynecologic cancer. We used quantitative Mass Spectrometry to identify metabolic signatures that predict platinum resistance in patients receiving chemotherapy for gynecologic cancers.

https://www.gynecologiconcology-online.net/article/S0090-8258(21)00646-6/fulltext

 

Analysis of the Lipid Profile in Patients with Colorectal Cancer in Advanced Stages – May 2019

Colorectal (CRC) is one of the main causes of cancer worldwide. The search for noninvasive markers for diagnosis and monitoring as the use of analytical technologies such as mass spectrometry (MS), which allowed the search for lipid metabolites as candidates for probable biomarkers are needed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6031810/

 

Efficacy of oral metformin in a patient with metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma: Examination of mechanisms and therapeutic implications – Jan 2018

Although rare, adrenocortical carcinoma is among the most common tumors found in children with Li-Fraumeni syndrome and Li-Fraumeni-like syndrome, associated with germ-line mutations in the TP53 gene. In southern Brazil, one form of Li-Fraumeni syndrome, associated with childhood adrenocortical carcinoma, is caused by a mutation in the R337H TP53 tetramerisation domain and is attributed to a familial founder effect.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5811989/

 

The effect of coffee intake on lysophosphatidylcholines: A targeted metabolomic approach – Dec 2017

Lysophosphatidylcholines (lysoPC) are known to be a pathological component of oxidized-LDL, and several studies demonstrate its pro-inflammatory properties in vitro. Nevertheless, bioactive compounds found in coffee, such as phenolic acids might inhibit LDL oxidation. The relationship between coffee consumption and lysoPC has not been described previously in humans. The aim of the present study was to assess the association between coffee intake and plasma lysoPC levels in adults.

https://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/S0261-5614(16)31287-0/abstract

 

Is Lipidomic the Answer to the Search of a Biomarker for Organ Preservation Protocol in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma? – Nov 2017

In the last decade organ preservation protocols based on chemoradiotherapy (CRT) have been showing the possibility of preserving function without jeopardizing survival for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Still, only a percentage of the patients will benefit from this approach, and, to date, no biomarkers are known to correctly predict these patients. More recently, modern mass spectrometry method has been used to determine metabolic profiles, and lipidomics, in particular, emerged as a new field of study in oncology and other diseases.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29130149/

 

Impaired branched-chain amino acid metabolism may underlie the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease-like pathology of neonatal testosterone-treated female rats – Oct 2017

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is frequently associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but the mechanisms involved in the development of NAFLD in PCOS are not well known. We investigated histological changes and metabolomic profile in the liver of rat models of PCOS phenotype induced by testosterone or estradiol.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29030588/

 

Correction: Plasma Metabolomics Biosignature According to HIV Stage of Infection, Pace of Disease Progression, Viremia Level and Immunological Response to Treatment – Feb 2017

We evaluated plasma samples HIV-infected individuals with different phenotypic profile among five HIV-infected elite controllers and five rapid progressors after recent HIV infection and one year later and from 10 individuals subjected to antiretroviral therapy, five of whom were immunological non-responders (INR), before and after one year of antiretroviral treatment compared to 175 samples from HIV-negative patients. A targeted quantitative tandem mass spectrometry metabolomics approach was used in order to determine plasma metabolomics biosignature that may relate to HIV infection, pace of HIV disease progression, and immunological response to treatment.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0173164

 

The SURMetaGIT study: Design and rationale for a prospective pan-omics examination of the gastrointestinal response to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery – Nov 2016

To describe the protocol of the SURgically induced Metabolic effects on the Human GastroIntestinal Tract (SURMetaGIT) study, a clinical pan-omics study exploring the gastrointestinal tract as a central organ driving remission of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). The main points considered in the study’s design and challenges faced in its application are detailed.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0300060516667862?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%252520%2525200pubmed

 

Lipidomic Assessment of Plasma and Placenta of Women with Early-Onset Preeclampsia – Oct 2014

Adipose tissue is responsible for triggering chronic systemic inflammatory response and these changes may be involved in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Samples were collected from placenta and plasma of 10 pregnant women with preeclampsia and 10 controls. Lipids were extracted using the Bligh–Dyer protocol and were analysed by MALDI TOF-TOF mass spectrometry.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0110747

 

PP098. Lipidic fingerprinting in women with early-onset preeclampsia: A first look – July 2012

preeclampsia is characterized by intense inflammatory response and an anti-angiogenic state. Maternal obesity has been considered to have important impact on the genesis of preeclampsia as lipotoxicity leads to maternal endothelial dysfunction and chronic inflammation. Here we investigate the plasma lipid profile of preeclamptic women.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2210778912002383?via=ihub

 

RESEARCH ABSTRACTS

Brazilian Society of Clinical Oncology (SBOC)

19th Brazilian Congress of Clinical Oncology 2015

D’Amora P, Silva IDCG, Salzgeber MB, Girão MJBC, Kleine JPFO, Forde G, Bristow R, DiSaia PJ, Evans S, Nagourney RA. A phase II study in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) to correlate drug sensitivity and metabolic signatures with objective response (OR), time to progression (TTP), and overall survival (OS). Annals of the Brazilian Congress of Clinical Oncology (SBOC), Foz do Iguaçú, Paraná, Brazil, 2015.

 

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)