Metabolomic profiling suggests long chain ceramides and sphingomyelins as a possible diagnostic biomarker of epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract Introduction Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a disease with a poor survival rate mostly due to its discovery in late stages. The aim of this study was to investigate the metabolomic profile of ovarian cancer with the intention of identifying and describing novel biomarkers with diagnostic potential. Material and methods Targeted serum metabolomic profiling was performed on 15 patients with ovarian cancer, 21 healthy controls and 21 patients with benign ovarian conditions, using HPLC–TQ/MS. Results Panel of 49 top performing biomarkers shows separation between EOC and controls with 87% specificity and 87% sensitivity with AUC of 93% (CI 90%–95%). Using only 5 top biomarkers, specificity of 80% and sensitivity of 83% was achieved on extended sample set. Most significant biomarkers belong to sphingolipid classes, especially long chain ceramides and sphingomyelins. Different concentrations of various fatty acid chain lengths ceramides and sphingomyelins are also implying their respective roles in cell proliferation and growth inhibition. Conclusion Long chain ceramides and sphingomyelins may serve as a novel biomarker for epithelial ovarian cancer detection and may also offer insight into the role of sphingolipid metabolism in cell proliferation.