First insight about the ability of specific glycerophospholipids to discriminate non-small cell lung cancer subtypes

Julia Sieminska; Katarzyna Miniewska; Robert Mroz; Ewa Sierko; Wojciech Naumnik; Joanna Kisluk; Anna Michalska-Falkowska; Joanna Reszec; Miroslaw Kozlowski; Lukasz Nowicki; Marcin Moniuszko; Adam Kretowski; Jacek Niklinski; Michal Ciborowski; Joanna Godzien

doi:10.3389/fmolb.2024.1379631

First insight about the ability of specific glycerophospholipids to discriminate non-small cell lung cancer subtypes

Front Mol Biosci. 2024 Apr 25:11:1379631. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2024.1379631. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Julia Sieminska¹, Katarzyna Miniewska¹, Robert Mroz², Ewa Sierko³, Wojciech Naumnik⁴, Joanna Kisluk⁵, Anna Michalska-Falkowska⁵, Joanna Reszec⁶, Miroslaw Kozlowski⁷, Lukasz Nowicki⁸, Marcin Moniuszko^{9

10}, Adam Kretowski^{1

11}, Jacek Niklinski⁵, Michal Ciborowski¹, Joanna Godzien¹

Affiliations

¹ Metabolomics Laboratory, Clinical Research Centre, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
² 2nd Department of Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
³ Department of Oncology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
⁴ 1st Department of Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
⁵ Department of Clinical Molecular Biology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
⁶ Department of Medical Patomorphology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
⁷ Department of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
⁸ Altium International Sp. z o. o., Warszawa, Poland.
⁹ Department of Allergology and Internal Medicine, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
¹⁰ Department of Regenerative Medicine and Immune Regulation, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
¹¹ Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Internal Medicine, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.

Abstract

Introduction: Discrimination between adenocarcinoma (ADC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) subtypes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is a significant challenge in oncology. Lipidomics analysis provides a promising approach for this differentiation. Methods: In an accompanying paper, we explored oxPCs levels in a cohort of 200 NSCLC patients. In this research, we utilized liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to analyze the lipidomics profile of matching tissue and plasma samples from 25 NSCLC patients, comprising 11 ADC and 14 SCC cases. This study builds upon our previous findings, which highlighted the elevation of oxidised phosphatidylcholines (oxPCs) in NSCLC patients. Results: We identified eight lipid biomarkers that effectively differentiate between ADC and SCC subtypes using an untargeted approach. Notably, we observed a significant increase in plasma LPA 20:4, LPA 18:1, and LPA 18:2 levels in the ADC group compared to the SCC group. Conversely, tumour PC 16:0/18:2, PC 16:0/4:0; CHO, and plasma PC 16:0/18:2; OH, PC 18:0/20:4; OH, PC 16:0/20:4; OOH levels were significantly higher in the ADC group. Discussion: Our study is the first to report that plasma LPA levels can distinguish between ADC and SCC patients in NSCLC, suggesting a potential role for LPAs in NSCLC subtyping. This finding warrants further investigation into the mechanisms underlying these differences and their clinical implications.

Keywords: adenocarcioma ADC; lipidomics; metabolomics; monoacylglycerophosphatidic acid LPA; non-small cell lung cancer NSCLC; oxidised glycerophosphatidylcholine oxPC; squamous call carcinoma SCC.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was funded by the grant from National Science Centre, Poland (2014/13/B/NZ5/01256), the grant from National Centre for Research and Development in the framework of Programme “Prevention practices and treatment of civilization diseases”– STRATEGMED (contract no. STRATEGMED2/266484/2/NCBR/2015), and internal grant from Medical University of Bialystok (B.SUB.23.145).