New study published in International Journal of Cancer
Dinesh Barupal, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, recently published the largest and most comprehensive lipidomics study to date on liver cancer risk. The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Liver cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Molecular changes that may support the initiation of cancer were identified and offer new prevention opportunities. Lipids are one of the essential molecules in cells, tissues, organs, and the body. They can be synthesized in our body or can be obtained from dietary sources, and are responsible for cellular metabolism, survival and structure functions. Liver is the major organ that transforms and synthesizes a variety of lipid molecules through metabolic processes and releases them in circulation. Lipidomics refers to the comprehensive investigation of lipids in biological samples.
Researchers completed a bioinformatics analysis of an untargeted lipidomics dataset to identify early dys-regulations in lipid metabolic processes. The research team identified pre-diagnostic lipid changes that provide novel insights into hepatic lipid metabolism reprogramming that may contribute to a pro-cell growth and anti-apoptotic tissue environment and, in turn, support liver cancer initiation. These changes may serve as risk-stratification biomarkers for liver cancer.