A Breath-Based Transcriptomic Signature for Lung Cancer Screening
Abstract Early lung cancer screening is necessary to save lives, and for this reason, this study performed a thorough bioinformatic analysis of the GSE19188 dataset to identify the Bottleneck genes that enable a diagnosis based on breath Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). This analysis defined a TRIPOD Survival Signature, that means, the structural driver was COL11A1 (LogFC = 4.692), and the metabolic driver was PSAT1 (LogFC = 3.211) that opposed the canonical Warburg theory (LDHA downregulation, LogFC = −1.2788), favoring biosynthetic anaplerosis (Serine/Glycine). The third is the proliferative driver CDC20 (LogFC = 3.225). We have determined that PSAT1 overactivity provides a molecular connection for the design of an Electronic Nose (e-Nose) for the detection of VOCs produced by PSAT1 metabolites. This technology has potential for use in detection and screening for other types of cancers and metabolic disorders and should be further evaluated for these applications in future wo...