2. Academic Validation
  3. Plasma-based untargeted metabolomics reveals potential biomarkers for screening and distinguishing of ovarian tumors

Plasma-based untargeted metabolomics reveals potential biomarkers for screening and distinguishing of ovarian tumors

  • Clin Chim Acta. 2025 Mar 17:572:120246. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2025.120246.
Shen Peng 1,  Yiming Zhu 2,  Jing Zhu 3,  Zhongjian Chen 4,  Yi Tao 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China.
  • 2 Department of Gynecological Oncology, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China.
  • 3 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Zhenjiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China.
  • 4 Experimental Research Center, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China. Electronic address: chenzj@zjcc.org.cn.
  • 5 College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China. Electronic address: taoyi1985@zjut.edu.cn.
PMID: 40107594 DOI: 10.1016/j.cca.2025.120246
Abstract

Ovarian Cancer (OC), a leading cause of gynecological Cancer mortality, is frequently detected at advanced stages due to asymptomatic early progression. This study investigates plasma-based untargeted metabolomics for identifying biomarkers to screen and differentiate ovarian tumors (OT). Plasma samples from OC, benign ovarian tumors (BOT), and healthy controls (HC) were analyzed. Samples were randomized into train and test sets, with differential metabolites screened via two-tailed Student's t-test and partial least squares discriminant analysis. ROC models evaluated discriminatory capacity. Key metabolites demonstrated high predictive value: TMAO and hippuric acid distinguished OT from HC (AUC > 0.95), while linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, and arachidonic acid (AUC > 0.9) further supported OT screening. Kynurenine differentiated OC from BOT (AUC = 0.808). Reduced levels of specific lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC (17:0/0:0), LPC (15:0/0:0)) also distinguished OT from HC (AUC = 0.771-0.89). These findings suggest plasma metabolomics holds promise for noninvasive biomarker discovery in OT screening and distinguishing between malignant and benign cases, though further validation of metabolite quantification is warranted prior to clinical application.

Keywords

Kynurenine; Metabolomics; Ovarian tumor; Plasma.

Figures
Products