Lipidomics analysis based on liquid chromatography mass spectrometry for hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) account for nearly all primary liver cancers. Diagnosis of ICC and HCC still remains a challenge because of the lack of sensitive diagnostic and sufficiently accurate tests. Lipidomics is a critical part of metabolomics and aims to study all the lipids within a living system. In order to have a better and noninvasive diagnostic test, we profiled the lipidomics in a total of 292 blood samples from patients and normal individuals. It revealed that four metabolites, PE(19 : 0/0 : 0), PE(18 : 2(9Z,12Z)/0 : 0), PC(14 : 0/0 : 0) and PC(18 : 0/0 : 0), were defined as “marker metabolites”, which can be used to distinguish the HCC and ICC. Discrimination analysis showed that a combination of these metabolites could be used as markers for HCC and ICC with better diagnostic parameters with high sensitivity and specificity than using a single metabolite marker. Lipidomic profiling could allow us to predict the disease in its early stages.