Metabolomics-Based Discovery of Molecular Signatures for Triple Negative Breast Cancer in Asian Female Population

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a devastating cancer disease characterized by its poor prognosis, distinct metastatic patterns, and aggressive biological behavior. Research indicates that the prevalence and presentation of TNBC varies among races, with Asian TNBC patients more commonly presenting with large invasive tumors, high node positivity, and high histologic grade. In this work, we applied ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS)-based metabolomics to discover metabolic signatures in Asian female TNBC patients. Serum samples from 31 TNBC patients and 31 healthy controls (CN) were involved in this study. A total of 2860 metabolic features were detected in the serum samples. Among them, 77 metabolites, whose levels were significantly different between TNBC with CN, were confirmed. Using multivariate statistical analysis, literature mining, metabolic network and pathway analysis, we performed an in-depth study of the metabolic alterations in the Asian TNBC population. In addition, we discovered a panel of metabolic signatures that are highly correlated with the 5-year survival rate of the TNBC patients. This metabolomic study provides a better understanding of the metabolic details of TNBC in the Asian population.