Metabolomics approaches and applications in prostate cancer research

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths in men worldwide. Although prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has been extensively used as a serum biomarker to detect prostate cancer, this screening method has suffered from a lack of specificities and sensitivities. The successful prevention and treatment of prostate cancer relies on the early and accurate detection of the disease; therefore, more sensitive biomarkers are urgently needed. Prostate has long been known to exhibit unique metabolite profiles, fortunately, metabolomics, the study of all metabolites produced in the body, can be considered most closely related to a patient's phenotype. It may provide clinically useful biomarkers applied toward identifying metabolic alterations in prostate cancer and has introduced new insights into the pathology of prostate cancer. This advanced bioanalytic method may now open door for diagnostics. Metabolomics has a great and largely potential in the field of disease, and the analysis of the cancer metabolome to identify novel biomarkers and targets can now be undertaken in many research laboratories. In this review, we take a closer look at the metabolomics in the field of prostate cancer and highlight the interesting publications as references for the interested reader.