BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) - Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometry is noted for its ability to analyze multiple metabolites in complex biological samples such as human urine. Professor Eric Chan (Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, NUS) and his team of scientists from the Metabolic Profiling Research Group at NUS collaborated with Professor Kesavan Esuvaranathan (Department of Urology, National University Health System, NUHS) and his team of urologists from NUHS and applied the technique in the metabonomic profiling of human bladder cancer (BC).
The urinary metabolic phenotypes or metabotypes derived from 38 BC patients and 61 non-BC controls were used to build the prediction model. Based on an external validation set comprising 7 BC patients and 10 non-BC subjects, the prediction model demonstrated 100% specificity and 71% sensitivity in differentiating BC patients from non-BC subjects. Additionally, the model revealed 46 biomarkers that characterize the disease. An alternative analytical method was further developed to quantitate the tryptophan-related metabolites in urine samples obtained from an independent external validation set (32 BC and 31 non-BC), confirming the perturbation of the tryptophan-kynurenine metabolic axis, and, thus, shedding light on a potential therapeutic target associated with BC.
This study demonstrates the potential of metabonomics in the non-invasive detection of BC and provides a deeper mechanistic understanding of the disease.
Written by:
Eric Chana and Kesavan Esuvaranathanb as part of Beyond the Abstract on UroToday.com. This initiative offers a method of publishing for the professional urology community. Authors are given an opportunity to expand on the circumstances, limitations etc... of their research by referencing the published abstract.
- Principal Investigator, Metabolic Profiling Research Group @ NUS
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore
Vice Dean (Undergraduate Programme), Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore - Leader, Prostate/Urology Tumour Group, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore
Head and Senior Consultant, Department of Urology, National University Health System
Clinical Director, Urology Centre
Professor, NUS & Director of Research, Department of Surgery, National University of Singapore
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