Separovic Duska, Shields Anthony F, Philip Philip A, Bielawski Jacek, Bielawska Alicja, Pierce Jason S, Tarca Adi L
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, U.S.A.
Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, U.S.A.
Anticancer Res. 2017 Mar;37(3):1213-1218. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.11436.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Because patients with cancer of apparently equivalent stage often have different outcomes, it is necessary to gather additional information to complement cancer staging. Dysregulated sphingolipid metabolism contributes to carcinogenesis. In this retrospective pilot study, we tested the hypothesis that changes in serum levels of sphingolipids are associated with stage IV colorectal cancer (CRC).
We used commercially available serum samples from healthy males and patients with CRC (adenocarcinoma of the large intestine, stage IV with metastases). Blood samples were obtained immediately prior to anesthesia/surgery. We measured sphingolipid levels in sera using mass spectrometry.
In serum of patients with CRC, the levels of C16-, C18-, C18:1-, and C24:1-ceramide, as well as those of sphingosine, were significantly higher than those of controls. In contrast, the levels of C24-sphingomyelin were significantly lower than those of controls. A global test of association showed that ceramides and sphingomyelins but not hexosylceramides were significantly associated with stage IV CRC.
Sphingolipids have a potential of serving as novel, non-invasive, inexpensive, and effective blood-based biomarkers to complement CRC staging for better prognosis and more personalized medicine.
背景/目的：由于处于明显相同分期的癌症患者往往有不同的预后，因此有必要收集额外信息以补充癌症分期。鞘脂代谢失调有助于致癌作用。在这项回顾性试点研究中，我们检验了以下假设：鞘脂血清水平的变化与IV期结直肠癌（CRC）相关。
我们使用了来自健康男性和CRC患者（大肠腺癌，伴有转移的IV期）的市售血清样本。在麻醉/手术前即刻采集血样。我们使用质谱法测量血清中的鞘脂水平。
在CRC患者的血清中，C16 -、C18 -、C18:1 -和C24:1 -神经酰胺以及鞘氨醇的水平显著高于对照组。相比之下，C24 -鞘磷脂的水平显著低于对照组。一项关联的总体检验表明，神经酰胺和鞘磷脂而非己糖神经酰胺与IV期CRC显著相关。
鞘脂有潜力作为新型、非侵入性、廉价且有效的血液生物标志物，以补充CRC分期，从而实现更好的预后和更个性化的医疗。
