Serum metabolomics profiling in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a multicentre diagnostic study.
A blood test can detect head and neck cancer at early stages when treatment works best, and identifies molecular subtypes that predict which patients respond to specific drugs.
This multicenter serum metabolomics study (n=938) developed and externally validated an 8-metabolite blood-based diagnostic model for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, achieving strong performance in Stage I disease (AUC 0.927), where early detection is most impactful but currently rare. Multi-omics integration with TCGA transcriptomics identified two clinically distinct HNSCC molecular subtypes with different immune profiles and predicted treatment sensitivities, extending clinical utility beyond detection toward molecular stratification.
What the study was
- Study design
- Multicenter diagnostic validation study (discovery + external validation + disease-control cohorts)
- Population
- HNSCC patients, controls, and OPMD patients across multiple centers (n=938 total)
- Sample size
- 938
- Category
- Early Detection
- Maturity
- Validated
- Journal
- EBioMedicine
Why it surfaced
Multicenter external validation of serum metabolomics for early-stage HNSCC detection in 938 participants addresses a significant clinical gap (HNSCC typically diagnosed late); Stage I AUC 0.927 and modest external validation performance support further prospective validation for a minimally invasive early detection blood test.
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