Lipidomic Analysis of Archival Pathology Specimens Identifies Altered Lipid Signatures in Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma

Cancer metabolism is associated with the enhanced lipogenesis required for rapid growth and proliferation. However, the magnitude of dysregulation of diverse lipid species still requires significant characterization, particularly in ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC). Here, we have implemented a robust sample preparation workflow together with targeted LC-MS/MS to identify the lipidomic changes in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens from OCCC compared to tumor-free ovarian tissue. We quantitated 340 lipid species, representing 28 lipid classes. We observed differential regulation of diverse lipid species belonging to several glycerophospholipid classes and trihexosylceramide. A number of unsaturated lipid species were increased in OCCC, whereas saturated lipid species showed a decrease in OCCC compared to the controls. We also carried out total fatty acid analysis and observed an increase in the levels of several unsaturated fatty acids with a concomitant increase in the index of stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) in OCCC. We confirmed the upregulation of SCD (the rate-limiting enzyme for the synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays. Hence, by carrying out a mass spectrometry analysis of archival tissue samples, we were able to provide insights into lipidomic alterations in OCCC.