Metabolite ratiomics: Rapid diagnosis and classification of gliomas for intraoperative application during brain surgery.
Metabolite ratiomics accurately classifies glioma subtypes and tumor grades with 100% agreement during brain surgery.
- Why it matters: Precise intraoperative diagnosis of gliomas is crucial due to their infiltrative nature and varying aggressiveness, yet current methods lack rapid, reliable molecular tools.
- What they did: Analyzing 86 human brain samples with syringe touch spray mass spectrometry and tandem MS/MS, researchers used a ratiometric approach based on endogenous metabolites to distinguish tumor types and grades.
- The result: Multiple metabolite ratios effectively differentiated glioma subtypes and grades, enabling real-time margin assessment during surgery and revealing metabolic heterogeneity that could inform prognosis and treatment.