Oral Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma Diagnosis from Tissue Metabolic Profiling

OBJECTIVE:Disease metabolomes have been studied for identifying diagnostic and predictive biomarkers of pathology. Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) is one of the most prevalent subtypes of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, yet the profile and diagnostic value of its tissue metabolite are unclear. SUBJECTS AND METHODS:Tumor tissue samples and matched normal mucosal tissue samples were collected from 40 OTSCC patients. Untargeted metabolic analysis by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry, in positive and negative ion modes, was used to identify dysregulated metabolites in OTSCC. Further, utilizing LASSO regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses, biomarker metabolites were selected and validated, and a diagnostic model was established. RESULTS:One hundred and ninety metabolites were detected. The OTSCC had a total of 89 dysregulated metabolites, of which 73 were elevated. A diagnostic panel of nine metabolites was subsequently created that could accurately identify OTSCC with 100% sensitivity of 100%, 100% specificity and an AUC of 1.00. CONCLUSIONS:This study identified distinct metabolic characteristics of OTSCC and established a diagnostic model. Our research also contributes to the investigation of the pathogenesis of OTSCC.