Kalluri U, Naiker M, Myers M A
Biomedical Science, School of Health Sciences, Federation University Australia, Mt Helen, Victoria 3350, Australia.
J Breath Res. 2014 Jun;8(2):027109. doi: 10.1088/1752-7155/8/2/027109. Epub 2014 May 27.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths. Unfortunately, lung cancer is often diagnosed only when it becomes symptomatic or at an advanced stage when few treatment options are available. Hence, a diagnostic test suitable for screening widespread populations is required to enable earlier diagnosis. Analysis of exhaled breath provides a non-invasive method for early detection of lung cancer. Analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by various mass spectral techniques has identified potential biomarkers of disease. Nevertheless, the metabolic origins and the disease specificity of VOCs need further elucidation. Cell culture metabolomics can be used as a bottom-up approach to identify biomarkers of pathological conditions and can also be used to study the metabolic pathways that produce such compounds. This paper summarizes the current knowledge of lung cancer biomarkers in exhaled breath and emphasizes the critical role of cell culture conditions in determining the VOCs produced in vitro. Hypoxic culture conditions more closely mimic the conditions of cancer cell growth in vivo. We propose that since hypoxia influences cell metabolism and so potentially the VOCs that the cancer cells produce, the cell culture metabolomics projects should consider culturing cancer cells in hypoxic conditions.
肺癌是癌症死亡的主要原因。不幸的是，肺癌往往只有在出现症状时或处于晚期、几乎没有治疗选择时才被诊断出来。因此，需要一种适用于广泛人群筛查的诊断测试，以便能够早期诊断。呼气分析为肺癌的早期检测提供了一种非侵入性方法。通过各种质谱技术对挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）进行分析，已确定了潜在的疾病生物标志物。然而，VOCs的代谢起源和疾病特异性仍需进一步阐明。细胞培养代谢组学可以作为一种自下而上的方法来识别病理状况的生物标志物，也可用于研究产生此类化合物的代谢途径。本文总结了目前关于呼出气中肺癌生物标志物的知识，并强调了细胞培养条件在确定体外产生的VOCs方面的关键作用。低氧培养条件更接近体内癌细胞生长的条件。我们认为，由于低氧会影响细胞代谢，从而可能影响癌细胞产生的VOCs，因此细胞培养代谢组学项目应考虑在低氧条件下培养癌细胞。
