Ovarian tumours of different histologic type and clinical stage induce similar changes in lipid metabolism.

Niemi, Riikka Johanna; Braicu, Elena Ioana; Kulbe, Hagen; Koistinen, Kaisa Maria; Sehouli, Jalid; Puistola, Ulla; Mäenpää, Johanna Unelma; Hilvo, Mika

Background: Previous results obtained from serum samples of late-stage, high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma patients showed large alterations in lipid metabolism. To validate and extend the results, we studied lipidomic changes in early-stage ovarian tumours. In addition to serous ovarian cancer, we investigated whether these changes occur in mucinous and endometrioid histological subtypes as well.Methods: Altogether, 354 serum or plasma samples were collected from three centres, one from Germany and two from Finland. We performed lipidomic analysis of samples from patients with malignant (N = 138) or borderline (N = 25) ovarian tumours, and 191 controls with benign pathology. These results were compared to previously published data.Results: We found 39 lipids that showed consistent alteration both in early- and late-stage ovarian cancer patients as well as in pre- and postmenopausal women. Most of these changes were already significant at an early stage and progressed with increasing stage. Furthermore, 23 lipids showed similar alterations in all investigated histological subtypes.Conclusions: Changes in lipid metabolism due to ovarian cancer occur in early-stage disease but intensify with increasing stage. These changes occur also in other histological subtypes besides high-grade serous carcinoma. Understanding lipid metabolism in ovarian cancer may lead to new therapeutic and diagnostic alternatives.

British Journal of Cancer, 2018, Vol 119, Issue 7, p847

0007-0920

Academic Journal

10.1038/s41416-018-0270-z