Metabolomics contribution to predictive biomarker discovery

Metabolomics deals with the large scale detection, identification and quantification of the metabolites that are present in a biological system. As a result of its downstream output of global cellular networking, the metabolome can reflect the true cellular phenotype and, therefore, offers a new paradigm for biomarker discovery in oncology. Many predictive biomarkers have yet been found for cancer screening, tumour relapse, treatment response, and toxicity of anticancer agents. Yet, few of them have been accepted clinically. This promising approach needs, therefore, besides overcoming some technical limits, to standardize candidates biomarkers development process.