Ionizing radiation induces changes in profile of metabolites in serum of cancer patients

Radiotherapy causes molecular changes observed at the level of body fluids, which are potential biomarker candidates for assessment of radiation exposure. Here we analyzed radiotherapy-induced changes in profile of small metabolites detected in sera of head and neck cancer patients using the GC/MS approach. There were about 30 compounds, including carboxylic acids, sugars, amines and amino acids, which levels significantly differed between pre-treatment and post-treatment samples. Among metabolites upregulated by radiotherapy was 3-hydroxy-butyric acid, which level increased about 10-fold in post-treatment samples. Compounds affected by irradiation were associated with several metabolic pathways, including catecholamine biosynthesis and amino acid metabolism.