Application of ¹H NMR-based metabolomics in childhood leukemia. A preliminary study.

Cancer cells undergo significant metabolic changes to support their rapid proliferation and growth. Leukemias, a diverse group of blood cancers, constitute a significant proportion of childhood cancers. This heterogeneity may result in distinct metabolic profiles, offering potential insights for improved diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment strategies. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing is essential to detect central nervous system involvement by leukemia and to counteract the effects of the involvement.. In preliminary study, a qualitative, untargeted metabolomics approach was used to analyze CSF and plasma samples from children with leukemia. A total of 20 pairs of CSF and plasma samples from patients were included in the analysis, along with 20 plasma samples from healthy children. ¹H NMR spectroscopy revealed more than 33 metabolites in the samples. Significant differences were observed between the metabolite profiles of CSF and plasma, with some metabolites being common to both fluids and others being unique to each. Our preliminary findings suggest that patients with leukemia exhibit distinct metabolic profiles between plasma and CSF and between plasma in leukemia and plasma from healthy controls. Further studies are warranted to investigate the potential diagnostic and prognostic value of metabolic profiling in childhood leukemia.