Lipidomic Profiling: A Promising New Direction in the Diagnosis and Management of Thyroid Cancer?

Abstract

Thyroid carcinoma (TC) is the most common endocrine malignancy worldwide, with an ongoing rise in its incidence. Despite improved diagnostic and therapeutic methods, distinguishing between benign and malignant nodules and predicting disease aggressiveness remains challenging. Lipidomics is a comprehensive approach to lipid profiling that is able to provide new insights into thyroid cancer biology. We conducted a methodical literature search for studies that looked into lipid metabolism alterations in the biofluids and tissue samples of TC patients and investigated the potential of the lipidomic fingerprint as a diagnostic or therapeutic target. Studies not employing lipidomic techniques, those using animal models, or focusing on other cancer types were excluded. The reviewed studies consistently revealed significant alterations in various lipid classes, including fatty acids (FA), phospholipids (PL), and sphingolipids (SL) across different sample types (serum, plasma, urine, and tissue) from TC patients compared to benign or healthy controls. Clinically, these findings provide a foundation for more accurate, non-invasive diagnostic tools and for classifying disease subtypes based on lipidomic signatures. For instance, modified glycerophospholipid (GPL) and SL species were observed in the plasma of thyroid cancer patients, and enhanced FA metabolism was correlated with tumor aggressiveness and poor prognosis. Lipidomics is a rapidly evolving field with tremendous potential for improving the clinical management of differentiated TC patients, from diagnosis to therapeutic intervention. The consistent identification of modified lipid profiles highlights their essential role in the metabolic reprogramming associated with tumorigenesis and also their importance as reliable clinical biomarkers. In order to implement routine clinical use of lipidomics, further large-scale validation studies are needed, along with standardized lipidomic protocols, to ensure reproducibility.

Keywords: biomarkers; differentiated thyroid carcinoma; lipid profile; lipidomics; thyroid cancer.

Figure 1. Literature search flow chart