Metabolomics variation profiling of vaginal discharge identifies potential targets for cervical cancer early warning
Hanjie Xu, Min Liu, Yuexiao Song, Lou Liu, Feng Xu, Jiale Chen, Huiying Zhan, Ye Zhang, Yu Chen, Mudan Lu, Daozhen Chen
Abstract
Cervical cancer (CC) continues being the second leading cause of cancer death in women aged 20 to 39 years[1]. Recent evidence suggests that cervical microbiota differs in different stages of cervical carcinogenesis [2]. Previous research revealed that gut microbiota is linked to host metabolism and thus influence disease progression [3]. Can cervicovaginal flora affect host metabolism and therefore the progression of cervical cancer? To solve this problem, metabolomics has been implemented to detect small molecular differential metabolites in cancer progression. Metabolomics is the study of the thousands of low-molecular-weight molecules found in biological fluids and tissues of different individuals, whether normal or afflicted with disease, which reflect changes in biological functions.