Association of Untargeted Urinary Metabolomics and Lung Cancer Risk Among Never-Smoking Women in China

Seow WJ, Shu XO, Nicholson JK, Holmes E, Walker DI, Hu W, Cai Q, Gao YT, Xiang YB, Moore SC, Bassig BA, Wong JYY, Zhang J, Ji BT, Boulangé CL, Kaluarachchi M, Wijeyesekera A, Zheng W, Elliott P, Rothman N, Lan Q.

JAMA Network Open (2019) 2(9):e1911970. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.11970

Question  What is the association of metabolomic biomarkers with lung cancer in women who have never smoked?

Findings  In this case-control study of 275 never-smoking women with lung cancer and 289 never-smoking cancer-free women in China, the metabolite 5-methyl-2-furoic acid was correlated with dietary soy consumption and pathways including 1-carbon metabolism, oxidative stress, nucleotide metabolism, and inflammation and was significantly associated with lower lung cancer risk.

Meaning  These findings suggest that certain metabolites and pathways are associated with lower lung cancer risk in never-smoking women and biological processes linked to air pollution may be associated with higher lung cancer risk in this population.