Abstract
BackgroundOral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most malignant neoplasm in oral cancer. There is growing evidence that its progression involves altered metabolism. The current method of evaluating prognosis is very limited, and metabolomics may provide a new approach for quantitative evaluation. The aim of the study is to evaluate the use of metabolomics as prognostic markers for patients with OSCC.MethodsAn analytical platform, Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole/Orbitrap High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS), was used to acquire the serum fingerprinting profiles from a total of 103 patients of OSCC before and after the operation. In total, 103 OSCC patients were assigned to either a training set (n = 73) or a test set (n = 30). The potential biomarkers and the changes of serum metabolites were profiled and correlated with the clinicopathological parameters and survival of the patients by statistical analysis. To further verify our results, we linked them to gene expression using data from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG).ResultsIn total, 14 differential metabolites and five disturbed pathways were identified between the preoperative group and postoperative group. Succinic acid change-low, hypoxanthine change-high tumor grade, and tumor stage indicated a trend towards improved recurrence-free survival (RFS), whether in a training set or a test set. In addition, succinic acid change-low, hypoxanthine change-high, and tumor grade provided the highest predictive accuracy of the patients with OSCC. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the imbalance in the amino acid and purine metabolic pathway may affect the prognosis of OSCC.ConclusionsThe changes of metabolites before and after operation may be related to the prognosis of OSCC patients. UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS serum metabolomics analysis could be used to further stratify the prognosis of patients with OSCC. These results can better understand the mechanisms related to early recurrence and help develop more effective therapeutic targets.
Highlights
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant neoplasm in oral cancer, and patients with the carcinoma had a low 5-year survival rate and poor prognosis [1,2,3]
Succinic acid change-low, hypoxanthine change-high tumor grade, and tumor stage indicated a trend towards improved recurrence-free survival (RFS), whether in a training set or a test set
Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis showed that the imbalance in the amino acid and purine metabolic pathway may affect the prognosis of OSCC
Summary
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant neoplasm in oral cancer, and patients with the carcinoma had a low 5-year survival rate and poor prognosis [1,2,3]. The treatment of OSCC has improved, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy [1], the current worldwide average 5-year overall survival (OS) rate is only 65% [4]. Over the past decade, increasing evidence has implicated altered metabolic homeostasis to be dysregulated with OSCC malignant progression [5]. Given the feature of cancer cells, identification of more sensitive prognostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets are important targets of research in OSCC. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most malignant neoplasm in oral cancer.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
