Frontiers in metabolomics for cancer research: Proceedings of a National Cancer Institute workshop

An NCI workshop entitled "Frontiers in Metabolomics for Cancer Research" was held in October 2005 to identify gaps in the application of metabolomics for cancer research and to disseminate information on metabolomics and its potential application. The workshop was sponsored by a number of groups, including the Division of Cancer Prevention, the Division of Cancer Biology, the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and the Center for Cancer Research within the National Cancer Institute, as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements. Specific aims for the workshop were to (1) identify issues relevant to the use of metabolomics in the measurements of changes in cells or body fluids; (2) review a variety of approaches to metabolite-based phenotyping such as metabolomics arrays and spectroscopic profiles in relation to its application for patients and/or stratification for responders and non-responders to dietary components, drugs, and toxic agents; (3) discuss what additional information metabolomics provides over that given by genomics and/or proteomics; and (4) evaluate the current status of metabolomics technologies as they relate to cancer prevention research. The potential impact of emerging metabolomics technology and research approaches on our understanding of interactions among external environments is obvious. The study of metabolomics, as characterized by the study of small molecular weight compounds, has the promise of discerning subtle changes in metabolic pathways and shifts in mechanistic aspects of homeostasis-within a time span of seconds-that is not possible by other "omic" approaches. Another advantage is that metabolomic research findings are likely to be relevant to a wide range of chronic and/or infectious diseases, including cancer obesity, and cardiovascular disease. This manuscript is a summary of the workshop that highlighted the existing research and literature in the field of metabolomics for cancer research and research recommendations that may provide important steps forward for the future.