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BMC Medicine
Published in: BMC Medicine 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Metabolomic profiles of hepatocellular carcinoma in a European prospective cohort

Authors: Anne Fages, Talita Duarte-Salles, Magdalena Stepien, Pietro Ferrari, Veronika Fedirko, Clément Pontoizeau, Antonia Trichopoulou, Krasimira Aleksandrova, Anne Tjønneland, Anja Olsen, Françoise Clavel-Chapelon, Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault, Gianluca Severi, Rudolf Kaaks, Tilman Kuhn, Anna Floegel, Heiner Boeing, Pagona Lagiou, Christina Bamia, Dimitrios Trichopoulos, Domenico Palli, Valeria Pala, Salvatore Panico, Rosario Tumino, Paolo Vineis, H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, Petra H. Peeters, Elisabete Weiderpass, Antonio Agudo, Esther Molina-Montes, José María Huerta, Eva Ardanaz, Miren Dorronsoro, Klas Sjöberg, Bodil Ohlsson, Kay-Tee Khaw, Nick Wareham, Ruth C. Travis, Julie A. Schmidt, Amanda Cross, Marc Gunter, Elio Riboli, Augustin Scalbert, Isabelle Romieu, Benedicte Elena-Herrmann, Mazda Jenab

Published in: BMC Medicine | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most prevalent form of liver cancer, is difficult to diagnose and has limited treatment options with a low survival rate. Aside from a few key risk factors, such as hepatitis, high alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity, and diabetes, there is incomplete etiologic understanding of the disease and little progress in identification of early risk biomarkers.

Methods

To address these aspects, an untargeted nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomic approach was applied to pre-diagnostic serum samples obtained from first incident, primary HCC cases (n = 114) and matched controls (n = 222) identified from amongst the participants of a large European prospective cohort.

Results

A metabolic pattern associated with HCC risk comprised of perturbations in fatty acid oxidation and amino acid, lipid, and carbohydrate metabolism was observed. Sixteen metabolites of either endogenous or exogenous origin were found to be significantly associated with HCC risk. The influence of hepatitis infection and potential liver damage was assessed, and further analyses were made to distinguish patterns of early or later diagnosis.

Conclusion

Our results show clear metabolic alterations from early stages of HCC development with application for better etiologic understanding, prevention, and early detection of this increasingly common cancer.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Metabolomic profiles of hepatocellular carcinoma in a European prospective cohort
Authors
Anne Fages
Talita Duarte-Salles
Magdalena Stepien
Pietro Ferrari
Veronika Fedirko
Clément Pontoizeau
Antonia Trichopoulou
Krasimira Aleksandrova
Anne Tjønneland
Anja Olsen
Françoise Clavel-Chapelon
Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault
Gianluca Severi
Rudolf Kaaks
Tilman Kuhn
Anna Floegel
Heiner Boeing
Pagona Lagiou
Christina Bamia
Dimitrios Trichopoulos
Domenico Palli
Valeria Pala
Salvatore Panico
Rosario Tumino
Paolo Vineis
H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita
Petra H. Peeters
Elisabete Weiderpass
Antonio Agudo
Esther Molina-Montes
José María Huerta
Eva Ardanaz
Miren Dorronsoro
Klas Sjöberg
Bodil Ohlsson
Kay-Tee Khaw
Nick Wareham
Ruth C. Travis
Julie A. Schmidt
Amanda Cross
Marc Gunter
Elio Riboli
Augustin Scalbert
Isabelle Romieu
Benedicte Elena-Herrmann
Mazda Jenab
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Medicine / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1741-7015
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-015-0462-9

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