Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Metabolic reprogramming is a fundamental trait associated with lung cancer development that fuels tumor proliferation and survival. Monitoring such metabolic pathways and their intermediate metabolites can provide new avenues concerning treatment strategies, and the identification of prognostic biomarkers that could be utilized to monitor drug responses in clinical practice. In this review, recent trends in the analytical techniques used for metabolome mapping of lung cancer are capitalized. These techniques include nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and imaging mass spectrometry (MSI). The advantages and limitations of the application of each technique for monitoring the metabolite class or type are also highlighted. Moreover, their potential applications in the analysis of many biological samples will be evaluated.
Keywords: GC-MS; LC-MS; MSI; NMR; lung cancer; metabolomics.