Table 1. An overview of empirical studies on spatial metabolomics in cancer research.
| Author | Diagnosis | Metabolites | Representative ions (m/z) | MP | CR | % Agt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morse et al.117) | Prostate cancer | Fatty acids and phospholipids | LysoPE (16:0) (452.7), LysoPE (18:1) (478.2), PI (37:6) (867.5), PCh (O-40:2), PC (P-40:1) (826.7), FA 22:4 (331.2) | Krebs cycle | Prostate cancer metabolism and surgical guidance | 97.0 |
| Tamura et al118) | RCC | Lipids and fatty acids | Azelaic acid (187.1), (FA [16:1]) (253.2) (palmitoleic acid), (FA [18:2]) (279.2) (linoleic acid), (FA [18:1]) (281.2) (oleic acid) |
Warburg effect | Therapeutic strategy for targeting cancer cell metabolism | NR |
| Santoro et al.79) | Breast cancer | Lipids | Taurine (124.0), uric acid (167.0), GPLs (PE [P-16:0/22:6, 746.5], PS [38:3], m/z 812.5) |
De novo lipogenesis | Breast cancer pathogenesis | NR |
| Abbassi-Ghadi et al.108) | Esophageal adenocarcinoma |
Glycerol Phospholipids |
PG 36:4 (769.5), PG 38:6 (793.5), PG 40:8 (817.5), PI 34:1 (835.5) |
De novo lipogenesis | Early diagnosis of cancer | NR |
| Bensussan et al.119) | Adenocarcinoma and SCC | Glycerol Phospholipids |
FA (20:4) (303.2), PG (36:2) (773.5), PI (34:1) (835.5), PS (36:1) (885.5) |
NR | Classification of ADC and SCC subtypes |
87.5 |
| Zhang et al.45) | Renal oncocytoma vs. RCC | Free fatty acids (FFA) and monoradylglycerolipids (MG) | Ascorbic acid (175.0), hexose (m/z 215.0), FA (18:1) (281.2), FA (20:4) (303.2), CL (723.4 and 737.4) | NR | Discrimination of renal tumors | 99.5 |
| Vijayalakshmi et al.34) | RCC | Small metabolites, fatty acids, and lipids | N-acetyl glutamate (187.0), 2-hydroxy butyrate (103.0), creatinine (112.9) |
Metabolic alterations | Surgical margin assessment | 88.0 |
| Song et al.61) | Oral cancer | Amino acids, carbohydrates, glycerolipids, GPLs, and sphingolipids | Putrescine (89.1), betaine (156.0), phosphocholine (259.9), linoleic acid (317.1), hypoxanthine (175.0) | Arginine/proline metabolism, histidine metabolism | Satisfy the need for point-of-care testing | 88.9 |
| Fala et al.120) | Murine lymphoma | Metabolites | Pyruvate and lactate | Pyruvate metabolism | Investigate pyruvate delivery and lactate labeling | NR |
| Song et al.88) | TNBC | Metabolites | Arginine (175.1), lysine (147.1), N,N-dimethyl arginine (203.1), N,N,N-trimethyl lysine (189.1) | NR | Rapid diagnosis of TNBC | 88.8 |
| Strittmatter et al.115) | Pancreatic cancer | Gemcitabine | Ceralasertib (451.3), 2′,2′-difluorodeoxycytidine (302.0), 2′,2′-difluorodeoxyuridine (299.0) | Gemcitabine metabolism | Visualizing drug metabolites | NR |
| Kaufmann et al.121) | CRC | Fatty acids | Phosphatidylserines (810.5, 812.535, 766.536), PEs (726.5) | De novo lipogenesis | CRC diagnosis and prognosis | 97.0 |
| Vaysse et al.63) | Oral cavity cancer | Metabolites | Ether-PE(O-16:1/18:2) (698.5) | OSCC keratinization | In vivo tissue recognition | 96.8 |
| Huang et al.122) | Thyroid tumor | Amino acids, fatty acids, nucleotides, and lipids | Arachidonic acid (303.2), PIs (885.5), lysophospholipids (568.3) |
Pathogenesis mechanisms | Improve diagnosis accuracy | 93.0 |
| Mondal et al.99) | Breast cancer | Lipids, fatty acids | PC, PE, Cer, SM, DG | De novo lipogenesis | Therapeutic and diagnostic developments | 100.0 |
| Zhan et al.123) | Brain tumor | Small metabolites | Glutamine, hexcer (d42:2) | Endogenous metabolic pathways | Tumor research | NR |
| Aramaki et al.98) | Luminal breast cancer | Lipids and fatty acids | PC, TG, phosphatidylethanolamine, SM, and Cer | Cancer metabolism | Describe heterogeneity of cancer | NR |
% Agt, percent agreement; ADC, adenocarcinoma; Cer, ceramide; CL, cardiolipin; CR, clinical relevance; CRC, colorectal cancer; DG, diacylglycerol; FA, fatty acid; GPL, glycerophospholipid; Lyso PE, lyso-phosphatidylethanolamine; MP, metabolic pathway; NR, not reported; OSCC, oral squamous cell carcinoma; PC, phosphatidylcholine; PCh, phosphatidylcholines; PE, glycerophosphoethanolamine; PG, glycerophosphoglycerol; PI, glycerophosphoinositol; PS, glycerophosphoserine; SCC, squamous cell carcinoma; SM, sphingomyelin; TG, triglyceride; TNBC, triple-negative breast cancer.