Metabolic profiling in tissues and urine of patients with prostatic lesions and the diagnostic value of urine...

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Oncology
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis lacks convenient and specific markers.
• Extracellular vesicles (EVs) show potential in oncology, but their metabolites need further study.
• Urine EVs (u-EVs) offer a noninvasive source for potential PCa biomarkers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the diagnostic value of urine extracellular vesicle (u-EV) metabolomics for prostate cancer (PCa).
• To assess the feasibility of EV metabolites as diagnostic markers.
• To explore the utility of u-EV metabolites in PCa typing and prognostic assessment.

Main Methods:

• Metabolite analysis was performed on paired tissues, tissue EVs (t-EVs), u-EVs, and urine samples.
• A cohort study compared metabolites in u-EVs from PCa patients and benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) controls.
• A random forest model was used to develop a diagnostic panel of six metabolites.

Main Results:

• Urine EV metabolites better reflected tissue composition than urine metabolites.
• More differential metabolites between PCa and BPH were found in u-EVs.
• A six-metabolite panel achieved an AUC of 0.833 (training) and 0.844 (validation) for PCa diagnosis.
• Differential metabolites were identified between PCa subtypes, indicating prognostic value.

Conclusions:

• Metabolomic analysis of urine extracellular vesicles (u-EVs) presents a promising noninvasive approach for PCa diagnosis.
• U-EV metabolites can aid in PCa typing and prognostic assessment.
• This method offers a potential new avenue for early and accurate PCa detection.