The extracellular metabolome stratifies low and high risk potentially premalignant oral keratinocytes and identifies citrate as a potential non-invasive marker of tumour progression

Karen-Ng, Lee Peng and James, Emma Louise and Stephen, Abish and Bennett, Mark Henry and Mycielska, Maria Elzbieta and Parkinson, Eric Kenneth (2021) The extracellular metabolome stratifies low and high risk potentially premalignant oral keratinocytes and identifies citrate as a potential non-invasive marker of tumour progression. Cancers, 13 (16). ISSN 2072-6694, DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13164212.

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Abstract

Simple Summary The early detection of oral cancer is a high priority, as improvements in this area could lead to greater cure rates and reduced disability due to extensive surgery. Oral cancer is very difficult to detect in over 70% of cases as it develops unseen until quite advanced, sometimes rapidly. Therefore, the development of markers in body fluids (liquid biopsies) indicative of cancerous changes have a high priority. We show here that small molecules called metabolites can distinguish between non-diseased oral cells and two types of cells found in oral cells on the road to cancer. Although our investigation is preliminary, some of the metabolites have already been detected in the saliva (split) of oral cancer patients, and could eventually help detect oral cancer development at an earlier stage. Premalignant oral lesions (PPOLs) which bypass senescence (IPPOL) have a much greater probability of progressing to malignancy, but pre-cancerous fields also contain mortal PPOL keratinocytes (MPPOL) that possess tumour-promoting properties. To identify metabolites that could potentially separate IPPOL, MPPOL and normal oral keratinocytes non-invasively in vivo, we conducted an unbiased screen of their conditioned medium. MPPOL keratinocytes showed elevated levels of branch-chain amino acid, lipid, prostaglandin, and glutathione metabolites, some of which could potentially be converted into volatile compounds by oral bacteria and detected in breath analysis. Extracellular metabolites were generally depleted in IPPOL, and only six were elevated, but some metabolites distinguishing IPPOL from MPPOL have been associated with progression to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in vivo. One of the metabolites elevated in IPPOL relative to the other groups, citrate, was confirmed by targeted metabolomics and, interestingly, has been implicated in cancer growth and metastasis. Although our investigation is preliminary, some of the metabolites described here are detectable in the saliva of oral cancer patients, albeit at a more advanced stage, and could eventually help detect oral cancer development earlier.

Item Type: Article
Funders: Queen Mary University of London Innovation Award, Dunhill Medical Trust (R452/1115), Malaysian Ministry of Education
Uncontrolled Keywords: Oral premalignancy; Tumour progression; Metabolism; Senescence; Diagnostics; Tumour heterogeneity
Subjects: R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0254 Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology (including Cancer)
Divisions: Faculty of Dentistry
Depositing User: Ms Zaharah Ramly
Date Deposited: 12 Apr 2022 07:29
Last Modified: 12 Apr 2022 07:29
URI: http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/28490

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