RESUMO
Objective: The objective of this study was to integrate metabolomics and transcriptomics data to identify key diagnostic and prognostic markers for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Plasma samples were collected from 85 ESCC patients at different stages and 50 healthy volunteers for non-targeted metabolomic analysis. Methods: Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was employed for non-targeted metabolomic analysis. Subsequently, we integrated the metabolomic data with transcriptomic data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and prognosis data from The Cancer Genome Atlas Program (TCGA) to perform pathway analysis. Our focus was on pathways that involve both metabolites and upstream genes, as they often exhibit higher accuracy. Results: Through the integration of metabolomics and transcriptomics, we identified significant alterations in the platelet activation pathway in ESCC. This pathway involves the participation of both metabolites and genes, making it a more accurate reflection of pathological changes associated with the disease. Notably, metabolite arachidonic acid (AA) and chemokine receptor type 2(CXCR2) were significantly downregulated in ESCC, while genes collagen type I alpha 1(COL1A1), collagen type I alpha 2(COL1A2), collagen type III alpha 1(COL3A1), type 3 inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (ITPR3), and insulin-like growth factor II mRNA binding protein 3(IGF2BP3) were significantly upregulated, indicating the presence of tumor-induced platelet activation in ESCC. Further analysis of prognosis data revealed that high expression of COL1A1, IGF2BP3, and ITPR3 was associated with a favorable prognosis for ESCC, while high CXCR2 expression was linked to an adverse prognosis. In addition, we combined COL1A1, ITPR3, IGF2BP3, CXCR2, and AA to form a diagnostic biomarker panel. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) demonstrated excellent diagnostic capability (AUC=0.987). Conclusion: Our study underscores the significant role of platelet activation pathways and related genes in the diagnosis and prognosis of ESCC patients. These findings offer promising insights for improving the clinical management of ESCC.
