Abstract
Background: Metabolomic characterization of tumours can potentially improve prediction of cancer prognosis and treatment response. Here, we describe efforts to validate previous metabolomic findings using a historical cohort of breast cancer patients and discuss challenges with using older biobanks collected with non-standardized sampling procedures. Methods: In total, 100 primary breast cancer samples were analysed by high-resolution magic angle spinning magnetic resonance spectroscopy (HR MAS MRS) and subsequently examined by histology. Metabolomic profiles were related to the presence of cancer tissue, hormone receptor status, T-stage, N-stage, and survival. RNA integrity number (RIN) and metabolomic profiles were compared with an ongoing breast cancer biobank. Results: The 100 samples had a median RIN of 4.3, while the ongoing biobank had a significantly higher median RIN of 6.3 (p = 5.86 × 10−7). A low RIN was associated with changes in choline-containing metabolites and creatine, and the samples in the older biobank showed metabolic differences previously associated with tissue degradation. The association between metabolomic profile and oestrogen receptor status was in accordance with previous findings, however, with a lower classification accuracy. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of standardized biobanking procedures in breast cancer metabolomics studies.
Highlights
Breast cancer is a highly heterogenous disease ranging from localized curable disease with minor impact on life expectancy to incurable metastatic disease with a poor prognosis
The median RNA integrity number (RIN) for samples collected after 1994 was 6.4, while samples collected from 1983–1989 had a median RIN of 4.0 (p = 0.077)
We evaluated the feasibility of using a historical biobank for NMR metabolomics analyses
Summary
Breast cancer is a highly heterogenous disease ranging from localized curable disease with minor impact on life expectancy to incurable metastatic disease with a poor prognosis. Tissue metabolism has been associated with several prognostic and predictive factors in breast cancer, such as hormone receptor status [5] and treatment response [6,7]. Metabolomic characterization of tumours can potentially improve prediction of cancer prognosis and treatment response. We describe efforts to validate previous metabolomic findings using a historical cohort of breast cancer patients and discuss challenges with using older biobanks collected with non-standardized sampling procedures. Metabolomic profiles were related to the presence of cancer tissue, hormone receptor status, T-stage, N-stage, and survival. RNA integrity number (RIN) and metabolomic profiles were compared with an ongoing breast cancer biobank. A low RIN was associated with changes in choline-containing metabolites and creatine, and the samples in the older biobank showed metabolic differences previously associated with tissue degradation. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of standardized biobanking procedures in breast cancer metabolomics studies
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