Volatilomics: An Emerging and Promising Avenue for the Detection of Potential Prostate Cancer Biomarkers

Abstract

Despite the spectacular advances in molecular medicine, including genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics, and personalized medicine, supported by the discovery of the human genome, prostate cancer (PCa) remains the most frequent malignant tumor and a leading cause of oncological death in men. New methods for prognostic, diagnostic, and therapy evaluation are mainly based on the combination of imaging techniques with other methodologies, such as gene or protein profiling, aimed at improving PCa management and surveillance. However, the lack of highly specific and sensitive biomarkers for its early detection is a major hurdle to this goal. Apart from classical biomarkers, the study of endogenous volatile organic metabolites (VOMs) biosynthesized by different metabolic pathways and found in several biofluids is emerging as an innovative, efficient, accessible, and non-invasive approach to establish the volatilomic biosignature of PCa patients, unravelling potential biomarkers. This review provides a brief overview of the challenges of PCa screening methods and emergent biomarkers. We also focus on the potential of volatilomics for the establishment of PCa biomarkers from non-invasive matrices.

Volatilomics as an Emerging Strategy to Determine Potential Biomarkers of Female Infertility: A Pilot Study

“…These molecules are present in biological matrixes such as tissues, cells [ 10 , 50 , 55 , 56 ], blood, urine, plasma, serum, and FF [ 10 , 50 , 51 , 55 , 56 , 57 ] due to their medical and chemical signature, which allows for the quantitative measurement of the dynamic chemical reactions that take place in living systems in response to pathophysiological insults or genetic variations [ 10 , 50 , 55 , 56 ]. Volatilomics, a metabolomic subgroup that reflects biochemical metabolic activity and environmental influences, offers new insights into the physiological processes of several disorders [ 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ]. It encompasses all volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that derive from exogenous sources, including nutrition, medications, and environmental exposure, as well as internal sources, such as endogenous metabolomic and biochemical processes [ 58 , 59 , 60 ].…”

“…Multiple pathologies, such as cancer, genetic and metabolic disorders, schizophrenia, and infectious diseases, have already been connected to particular VOC signatures [ 59 , 62 ] and potential biomarkers [ 63 , 64 ]. The volatilomics approach is based on highly sensitive analytical techniques and does not require invasive procedures, since VOCs can be found in readily accessible biofluids [ 61 , 65 , 66 , 67 ], such as urine [ 61 , 63 , 66 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ], exhaled breath [ 61 , 63 , 66 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 ], saliva [ 61 , 63 , 71 , 72 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 ], blood [ 63 , 71 , 72 ], serum [ 61 , 78 , 79 , 83 ], skin emanations, breast milk [ 63 , 71 , 72 ], and tissues [ 10 , 69 ,…”

“…The volatilomics approach is based on highly sensitive analytical techniques and does not require invasive procedures, since VOCs can be found in readily accessible biofluids [ 61 , 65 , 66 , 67 ], such as urine [ 61 , 63 , 66 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ], exhaled breath [ 61 , 63 , 66 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 ], saliva [ 61 , 63 , 71 , 72 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 ], blood [ 63 , 71 , 72 ], serum [ 61 , 78 , 79 , 83 ], skin emanations, breast milk [ 63 , 71 , 72 ], and tissues [ 10 , 69 , 84 , 85 ]. Volatilomics studies involve the targeted analysis of a limited number of metabolites connected to a specific biological pathway or the fingerprinting of a significant fraction of metabolites [ 61 , 65 ,…”

“…Volatilomics studies involve the targeted analysis of a limited number of metabolites connected to a specific biological pathway or the fingerprinting of a significant fraction of metabolites [ 61 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. In this study, a more untargeted approach was required to detect and identify unexpected changes in the concentrations of specific metabolites [ 61 , 86 ].…”

“…Instrumentation that is precise, dependable, and efficient is essential for VOC detection [ 61 , 68 ]. Due to its consistent and reproducible results, headspace (HS) solid-phase microextraction (SPME) in combination with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is the typically used method for the extraction and posterior analysis of VOCs [ 10 , 61 , 69 , 84 , 85 , 87 , 88 ].…”