Paula Guedes de Pinho, Márcia Carvalho and Joana Pinto, all researchers at the Toxicology Lab at UCIBIO - Porto, were recently guest editors of a Special Issue book “Cancer Metabolomics 2018”, published in Metabolites journal, focused on recent advances of research on cancer metabolism through metabolomic approaches. The metabolome comprises a set of low molecular weight compounds present in cells, being influenced by several factors, such as diseases, lifestyle, among others. Since the metabolism of tumor cells differs from the metabolism of normal cells, this approach constitutes a powerful tool in cancer biomarker discovery aiming the improvement of cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Abstract
The metabolomics approach, defined as the study of all endogenously-produced low-molecular-weight compounds, appeared as a promising strategy to define new cancer biomarkers. Information obtained from metabolomic data can help to highlight disrupted cellular pathways and, consequently, contribute to the development of new-targeted therapies and the optimization of therapeutics. Therefore, metabolomic research may be more clinically translatable than other omics approaches, since metabolites are closely related to the phenotype and the metabolome is sensitive to many factors. Metabolomics seems promising to identify key metabolic pathways characterizing features of pathological and physiological states. Thus, knowing that tumor metabolism markedly differs from the metabolism of normal cells, the use of metabolomics is ideally suited for biomarker research. Some works have already focused on the application of metabolomic approaches to different cancers, namely lung, breast and liver, using urine, exhaled breath and blood. In this Special Issue we contribute to a more complete understanding of cancer disease using metabolomics approaches.
Publication
ISBN 978-3-03921-345-0 (Pbk); ISBN 978-3-03921-346-7 (PDF)
https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-03921-346-7 (registering DOI)
© 2019 by the authors; CC BY-NC-ND licence
Cancer Metabolomics 2018
Paula Guedes De Pinho, Márcia Carvalho and Joana Pinto (Eds.)
(This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Cancer Metabolomics 2018 that was published in Metabolites)