Advances in lipidomics for cancer biomarker discovery

Abstract The cumulative work of several decades of cancer research has unveiled a wealth of genotypic and phenotypic profiles on many types of cancer and associated biomarkers. While therapies and diagnostics targeting specific protein-based biomarkers have demonstrated enormous success, there are many biomarkers left to discover and evaluate for efficacy. Lipids play a significant role in the manifestation of cancer. However, research into lipid biomarkers of cancer is still in its infancy, as methods for isolating and characterizing lipids still predominantly rely on physical separation techniques and spectroscopic evaluation. Disease biomarkers often have hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties required for biological function. Yet, most detection methods target the hydrophilic proteomic or glycosylated components, and ignore the relevance of lipids in disease manifestation. Recent advances in lipid-based detection technologies coupled with continued development of antibodies against small, lipidic molecules may serve as key factors for unlocking the future of lipid-based cancer diagnostics.