Metabolomic and elemental profiling of human tissue in kidney cancer
March 2021
Abstract
Introduction: Kidney cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed and most lethal urinary cancers. Despite therapeutic advances, no specific biomarker is currently used for guiding treatment decisions.
Objectives: The major aim was to perform metabolomic and elemental profiling of tumor and adjacent normal human kidney tissue in order to evaluate potential tissue biomarkers for kidney cancer.
Methods: Tissue samples from 50 patients with kidney cancer were analyzed using three complementary analytic platforms:
- 1H NMR spectroscopy,
- laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) enhanced with silver-109 nanoparticles,
- inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).
Results:
- Identified five potential tissue biomarkers by high-resolution proton NMR.
- Elemental differences (e.g., Li, Fe) were quantified by ICP-OES.
- Detected eleven mass spectral features capable of distinguishing tumor from normal tissue via silver-109 nanoparticle-enhanced LDI‑MS imaging.
Conclusions: Combined use of ICP-OES, LDI‑MS, and ^1H NMR suggests that the identified tissue biomarkers have strong potential for clinical application in prognosis or diagnosis of kidney cancer.