Altered plasma, urine, and tissue profiles of sulfatides and sphingomyelins in patients with renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents the most common type of kidney cancer and, despite the progress of surgical and medical management, is associated with high mortality. In this study, we demonstrate that RCC-related processes change body fluids sphingolipid concentrations, which may be used to monitor tumor presence using non-invasive lipid-based blood and urine tests. We investigate 674 plasma, urine, and tissue samples from 369 RCC patients and controls. For the first time, we show the significant concentration changes of low abundant sulfatides in plasma and urine of RCC patients. Elevated concentrations of lactosylsulfatides, decreased concentrations of sphingomyelins with long saturated N-fatty acyls and sulfatides with hydroxylated fatty acyls are the crucial alternations in RCC. These changes are stage-dependent and are more emphasized in late-stage RCC. Similar trends in body fluids and tissues indicate that RCC widely influences lipid metabolism and highlights the potential of lipidomic profiling for cancer detection.