# Skin Cancer Metabolic Profile Assessed by Different Analytical Platforms
## 7 Skin Cancer Metabolomics Using Different Analytical Platforms
### NMR Based Skin Cancer Metabolomics
Metabolites that arose from both statistical methods include lactic acid, myo-inositol, glutamic acid, creatine, succinic acid, proline, o-phosphocholine, and choline. These may act as molecular biomarkers for human advanced melanoma that is metastatic, and harbor great prognostic, diagnostic, and therapeutic potential [62]. The upregulation of glycolysis and the enhanced synthesis of lactic acid is one of the most significant changes found in this study due to the Warburg effect. To support growth, survival, proliferation, and long-term maintenance, cancer cells rearrange their metabolism. The increased absorption of glucose and the fermentation of glucose to lactate are frequent characteristics of this altered metabolism. The Warburg Effect refers to this phenomenon, which may be seen even when the mitochondria are fully functional [63]. Myo-inositol was another significantly altered metabolite. In-vitro and in-vivo NMR investigations reveal an association between myo-inositol's involvement in controlling osmotic pressure and tumor-cell density [64]. Moreover, the metabolite hypoxanthine, which was found to be at least 14-fold greater in WM2664 than in WM115 cells, is derived from the purine biosynthesis pathway [65]. Since this pathway is characterized by the transformation of ribose 5-phosphate into inosine monophosphate, which is subsequently dephosphorylated to create inosine, the main precursor molecule for hypoxanthine, the drastically decreased inosine contents in the WM2664 metastatic melanoma cells were seen to be tightly correlated with the noticeably raised levels of hypoxanthine. In the primary melanoma WM115 cell group, the important cell membrane constituents choline, phosphocholine, and glycerophosphocholines also showed a statistically significant increase. This could be attributed to the irregularities in choline metabolism that have been closely linked to abnormal cellular membrane production and cancer. In light of everything, the UHPLC-HRMS analysis revealed significant differences in 30 out of the 36 metabolites between the two corresponding metastatic phases. Differently produced, secreted, and/or sequestered metabolites are part of a variety of key metabolic processes, including the catabolism of glucose, glutamine, and choline, which are essential for the survival and expansion of advanced melanoma cells. Through the utilization of this platform, the study was able to shed light on the molecular biology of advanced melanoma \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Analytical Platform** & **Advantages** & **Disadvantages** & **Detectable Molecules** \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{NMR} & \(\bullet\) & Non-destructive technique. The & \multirow{8}{*}{\
\begin{tabular}{c} Low sensitivity. \\ Expensive instrument. \\ Unable to detect/identify \\ inorganic ions and salts. \\ Unable to detect non-protonated \\ samples. \\ Requires large sample volumes \\ (0.1- 0.5 mL) \\ \end{tabular} } \\  & \(\bullet\) & On-destructive technique. The & \multirow{8}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} Low sensitivity. \\ Expensive instrument. \\ Unable to detect/identify \\ inorganic ions and salts. \\ Unable to detect non-protonated \\ samples. \\ Requires large sample volumes \\ (0.1- 0.5 mL) \\ \end{tabular} } \\  & \(\bullet\) & Most molecules \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: _Cont._and open the possibilities of new treatment avenues for the metastatic disease form(s) in the clinic [62]. \({}^{1}\)H NMR-based metabolomics platform was used in another study to investigate the metabolic variations of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), peri-tumoral zones, and distant normal skin. A total of 24 patients with confirmed diagnosis of SCC were included and tissue samples were collected from the three regions from each patient. Samples collected from distant normal skin (> 5 mm adjacent to the tumor lesion) were used as controls, and peri-tumoral zones samples were considered as the tumor \"bed\".