Discrimination of serum samples of prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia with ¹H-NMR metabolomics

Prostate cancer continues to be a prominent health concern for men globally. Current screening techniques, primarily the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test and digital rectal examination (DRE), possess inherent limitations, with prostate biopsy being the definitive diagnostic procedure. The invasive nature of the biopsy and other drawbacks of current screening tests create the need for non-invasive and more accurate diagnostic methods. This study utilized ¹H-NMR (Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) based serum metabolomics to differentiate between prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Serum samples from 40 PCa and 41 BPH patients were analysed using ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. PepsNMR was utilized for preprocessing the raw NMR data, and the binned spectra were examined for patterns distinguishing PCa and BPH. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed a moderate separation between PCa and BPH, highlighting the distinct metabolic profiles of both conditions. A logistic regression model was then developed, which demonstrated good performance in distinguishing between the two conditions. The results showed significant variance in multiple metabolites between PCa and BPH, such as isovaleric acid, ethylmalonic acid, formate, and glutamic acid. This research underlines the potential of ¹H-NMR-based serum metabolomics as a promising tool for improved prostate cancer screening, offering an alternative to the limitations of current screening methods.