Focus on the glycerophosphocholine pathway in choline phospholipid metabolism of cancer
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Updated: Jan 23, 2026

A Pathway Association Study Tool for GWAS Analyses of Metabolic Pathway Information
Published on: July 1, 2020
Kanchan Sonkar1, Vinay Ayyappan1, Caitlin M Tressler1
1The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Division of Cancer Imaging Research, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Abstract:
Activated choline metabolism is a hallmark of carcinogenesis and tumor progression, which leads to elevated levels of phosphocholine and glycerophosphocholine in all types of cancer tested so far. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy applications have played a key role in detecting these elevated choline phospholipid metabolites. To date, the majority of cancer-related studies have focused on phosphocholine and the Kennedy pathway, which constitutes the biosynthesis pathway for membrane phosphatidylcholine. Fewer and more recent studies have reported on the importance of glycerophosphocholine in cancer. In this review article, we summarize the recent literature on glycerophosphocholine metabolism with respect to its cancer biology and its detection by magnetic resonance spectroscopy applications.
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