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Metabolite Changes Associated with Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
Declan McDonnell1,2, Paul R Afolabi1, Umar Niazi1
1Human Development & Health, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.
Cancers
|April 14, 2025
Summary
Metabolic profiling reveals key differences in resectable pancreatic cancer. These findings highlight metabolic plasticity and alternative fuel utilization in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients compared to healthy volunteers.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Metabolomics
- Oncology
Background:
- Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) presents diagnostic challenges due to late-stage presentation and a protective tumor microenvironment.
- Metabolic adaptations in PDAC cells are crucial for survival, necessitating the exploration of these changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate metabolomic distinctions between patients with resectable PDAC and healthy volunteers (HV).
- To assess the potential of identified metabolic variations for discriminating between PDAC and HV groups.
Main Methods:
- Plasma samples from 23 resectable PDAC patients and 24 HV were analyzed.
- Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS) were employed for metabolomic analysis.
Main Results:
- NMR identified six key metabolites differentiating groups, including elevated 3-hydroxybutyrate and citrate, and decreased glutamine and histidine.
- MS detected 84 significantly different metabolites, with conjugated bile acids (e.g., taurocholic acid) showing a fold change > 1.5 in PDAC patients.
Conclusions:
- Metabolomic analysis successfully identified biochemical differences between resectable PDAC and HV.
- These findings underscore the metabolic plasticity and alternative fuel source utilization in PDAC.
