Table 3:
Overview of MSI based lipidomics studies
| Cancer type | Samples | MS Platform | Main observations | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bladder cancer | 20 tumors, 20 benign | DESI-MS | PS(18:0/18:1) and PI(18:0/20:4) upregulated in tumor tissue | [14] |
| Brain cancer | 36 | DESI-MSI | Lipid signatures varied between subtypes of glioma, PI(18:0/20:4) and PS(18:0/22:4) were the most significant discriminatory lipids | [15] |
| Breast cancer | 28 | MALDI-TOF/TOF | Cancerous regions enriched in mono-unsaturated PC species versus saturated | [16] |
| Breast cancer | 8 | MALDI-TOF/MS | A complex signature of +/− 20 PC and TAG species differentiates cancer from normal. | [17] |
| Breast cancer | 56 | MALDI-iMScope | Two different populations of cancer cells that predominantly expressed either PI(18:0/18:1) or PI(18:0/20:3). | [18] |
| Breast cancer | 67 Tumors, 55 containing matched benign | DESI-MSI | Highly saturated lipids could distinguish breast cancer from benign tissue. Distinct lipid profiles were evident across different molecular tumor subtypes, and PE38:6 and PS38:3 plus 2 fatty acids were able to distinguish ductal carcinoma in situ from invasive breast cancer | [19] |
| Breast cancer | 86 invasive tumors, 45 normal tissue | DESI-MSI | Complex signature of >40 lipid masses could distinguish cancer from normal, and was validated in two independent centers | [20] |
| Colorectal cancer | Training: 12 Validation: 40 | MALDI-TOF/TOF | Lipid signature correlates with prognosis | [21] |
| Colorectal cancer | 12 tumors, 12 matched benign tissue | MALDI-MSI | Cancerous tissues had higher levels of PC(16:0/18:1), lysoPC(16:0) and lysoPC(18:1) compared to matched normal tissue | [22] |
| Gastric cancer | 62 | DESI-MSI | Lipid signatures distinguished gastric cancer from normal tissue, and were validated on surgical margin samples | [23] |
| Lung adenocarcinoma | 25 | LC-MS + MALDI-iMScope | Enriched monounsaturated/saturated PC ratios in cancerous regions | [24] |
| Oral cancer | Training: 3 Validation: 1 | MALDI-TOF/TOF | Logistic regression classifier allowed for a high precision labeling of cancerous regions | [25] |
| Ovarian cancer | 107 | DESI-MSI | Lipid profiles were tissue type-dependent. PA, PS, PE, PG and ceramide species were discriminatory for cancer versus normal. | [26] |
| Medulloblastoma + Pineoblastoma | MB: 8 PB: 3 | MALDI-FTMS | Glycerophosphoglycerols and sphingolipids allow differentiation between MB and PB | [27] |
| Prostate cancer | 10 | MALDI-FTMS | 31 lipids correlated with Gleason score | [28] |
| Prostate cancer | 52 | MALDI-IMS | Cancerous tissues had higher levels of PI species (PI(18:0/18:1), PI(18:0/20:3), PI(18:0/20:2) | [29] |
| Prostate cancer | 31 | MALDI-IMS | Decreased levels of lyso PC (16:0/OH) and SM(d18:1/16:0) in tumor vs benign regions of tissues; lower tumoral lysoPC(16:0/OH) levels were associated with biochemical relapse | [30] |
| Prostate cancer | 18 | DESI-MSI | Benign tissue regions had higher levels of lysoPEs, PI and citrate; Malignant regions had higher levels of FAs, PE, PC, PI and glutamate | [31] |
| Prostate cancer | 68 | DESI-MSI | Cholesterol sulfate was higher in malignant and pre-malignant lesions compared to benign tissue | [32] |
| Non-small cell lung cancer | Discovery: 73 Validation: 89 | ESI-MS/MS + MALDI-FTMS | 40 and 42 carbon PC and PE species enriched in cancerous regions; decrease in SM and specific PI | [33] |
| Renal cell cancers | 20 normal 15 benign 46 tumors | DESI-MSI | Lipid profiles could distinguish normal kidney from benign neoplasms and different subtypes of cancer, increased cardiolipins were prominent features | [34] |
| Skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma) | 86 | DESI-MSI | PG(18:1/18:1), PS(18:0/20:4), PI(16:1/18:0) and PI(18:2/18:0) more abundant in carcinoma versus normal skin; cholesterol sulfate was higher in normal compared with tumor tissue | [35] |