New blood test uses metabolomic variations to offer safer and more efficient method of recognizing metastatic cancer
Researchers from the University of Oxford have developed a blood test that can detect metastatic cancer by analyzing a patient’s individual metabolome. This disruptive development enables noninvasive detection of the spread of cancer, allowing hospital and oncology leaders to help patients recognize their need for treatment sooner and more efficiently.
Oxford researchers used a unique method when developing this new blood test, leveraging the information that can be obtained from an individual patient’s metabolome. The concept of the metabolome is of growing importance in precision medicine and describes the specific pattern of metabolites in an individual patient’s bloodstream. Some have termed metabolomics “the stethoscope for the twenty-first century.”
Metabolomics can render a real-time representation of the complete physiology of an organism by examining differences between biological samples based on their metabolite characteristics.
“Metabolites are any small molecules in blood such as glucose, lactic acid, or amino acids,” said James Larkin, MBiochem, PhD, FHEA, in a BBC article. “The exact pattern of metabolites present in your blood varies depending on what is going on in your body, something which is influenced by diseases like cancer.” Larkin is both a senior postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University in the Department of Oncology and a lecturer in Biochemistry at Trinity College, focusing on molecular cell biology.
Oxford University: Analyzing Metabolites in the Context of Metastatic Cancer
James Larkin, MBiochem, PhD, FHEA (left), and Fay Probert, BSc, MSc, PhD (right), both of Oxford University, are studying nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics in diagnostics and other applications. NMR metabolomics profiles levels of natural chemicals (metabolites) in the blood. (Photos: University of Oxford)
The Oxford researchers’ work was published in Clinical Cancer Research in early 2022 and showed that using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics offered a promising method of detecting metastatic cancer.
Described as fast, reproducible, and extremely information rich, “NMR provides significant advantages over other techniques that can only quantify a single molecule at a time and, by analysing the fingerprint of metabolites in combination, can provide a more powerful means of diagnosis,” according to Oxford scientists. “For example, an increase in the amount of molecule A alone may not be sufficient to diagnose or stage a disease while increases in molecules A and B, combined with a decrease in molecule C could enable accurate diagnosis.”
“Cancer cells have unique metabolomic fingerprints due to their different metabolic processes,” explained Larkin. “We are only now starting to understand how metabolites produced by tumors can be used as biomarkers to accurately detect cancer.”
This new test is a simple blood test and is not specific to certain types of cancer, allowing it to be broadly applied. The test had a high degree of sensitivity and was able to detect metastatic cancer in 94% of patients who were tested, according to the Oxford research.
Using Metabolomics for Other Health Conditions
While metabolomic testing has offered a quick and convenient method of testing for metastatic cancer, it also has application for other conditions. This new discovery builds on previous research from Oxford University. Larkin explains, “We have already demonstrated that this technology can successfully identify if patients with multiple sclerosis are progressing to the later stages of disease, even before trained clinicians could tell.”
Larkin sees metabolomic technology having many other potential applications. “It is very exciting that the same technology is now showing lots of promise across a wide range of diseases, including those often confused for multiple sclerosis, such as neuromyelitis optica, as well as other diseases like ulcerative colitis,” Larkin said. “We are only really beginning to scratch the surface of what can be done with this technology and have high hopes for future discoveries as we explore what can be done.”
Ambitious Goals for Commercial Clinical Validation Trials
While this research is only an initial finding, it opens the opportunity for many potential applications. “Our next steps are to raise funding for a spinout company from Oxford University, and run a clinical validation trial with recruitment of patients from multiple sites across the UK,” added Larkin. “This will be 2,000–3,000 patients over the next two to three years, depending on the timing of a successful funding round. This trial will build evidence that we can submit to regulatory bodies, like the MHRA, for clinical approval.”
Ultimately this research not only represents a tremendous breakthrough in personalized cancer testing, but also accelerates research in the field of metabolomics.
“This work describes a new way of identifying cancer,” said Fay Probert, BSc, MSc, PhD, the lead researcher of the study. “The goal is to produce a test for cancer that any [doctor] can request. We envisage that metabolomic analysis of the blood will allow accurate, timely and cost-effective triaging of patients with suspected cancer, and could allow better prioritization of patients based on the additional early information this test provides on their disease.”
The most immediate implication of this research is that recognizing metastatic cancer may soon become much easier and safer. Hospital and oncology leaders will want, however, to follow continued developments in metabolomic research, as the applications of this newer area of precision medicine have the opportunity to provide reaching impacts that go beyond diagnosing metastasized cancer.
—Caleb Williams
Related Information:
Metabolomics: The Stethoscope for the Twenty-First Century
James Larkin, MBiochem, PhD, FHEA
New blood test can tell if cancer has spread around the body