Norez, Daniel

22 Background: Glycosylation plays a pivotal role in host immune response during cancer development. Recently, we have reported specific changes in blood-based glycoforms for the early detection of advanced adenomas (AAs) and colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aims to identify glycoproteomic biomarkers associated with various polyp types, as glycosylation abnormalities are linked to neoplastic transformation, and CRC risk varies by polyp histology. Methods: Samples from an observational study (NCT05445570) were used to identify three distinct histologic polyp groups: adenomatous (AP), hyperplastic (HP), or serrated (SP). Combining liquid-chromatography/mass-spectrometry and artificial-intelligence powered data processing, our glycoproteomic profiling platform assessed glycopeptide (GP) and non-glycosylated peptide quantification transitions from the serum samples. We used multi-nominal response logit models to examine the relationship between polyp types and biomarkers. An a priori biomarker panel was interjected as exposures in the model. Each marker is assessed independently for inclusion into our final model. The final model utilized biomarkers found to have a significant association with the presence of AP, SP, or HPs along with age, sex, and BMI. Results: We identified 1,035 subjects with distinct polyp histologies and 1,300 polyp-free controls. We found a significant increase in relative risk (RR) for polyp presence in patients who were: >60 years (AP RR 1.40), male (AP RR 1.74), or had a BMI> 25. From the GP biomarker panel, 15 GPs were associated with risk of polyp presence; however, only 7 GP markers were significantly associated after adjusting for age, sex, and BMI. Two biomarkers were found to have a protective effect for the risk of an adenomatous polyp (RR 0.37; RR 0.39). Three biomarkers increased the risk of an adenomatous polyp (RR 1.31; RR 1.42; RR 1.98). One biomarker was found to increase the risk of a hyperplastic polyp (RR 1.42). Two biomarkers were found to increase the risk of serrated polyps (RR 1.67; RR 2.08) and one biomarker was found to decrease the risk of serrated polyps (RR 0.77). Conclusions: This is a novel exploratory study using GP biomarkers as it relates to risk of polyp presence by distinct histology. The use of these biomarkers allows us to harness the power of glycobiology in the liquid biopsy domain for AAs/CRC detection. The exact function of these GP markers during the development of different polyp types needs to be further explored through future studies.

AbstractDeficient intake of micronutrients involved in one‐carbon metabolism (eg, choline, methionine, vitamin B12 and folic acid) leads to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in rodents, but is under‐investigated in humans. We investigated the association between one‐carbon metabolism‐related micronutrient intake and HCC risk in a prospective cohort of 494 860 participants with 16 years of follow‐up in the NIH‐AARP study. Dietary intakes and supplement use were ascertained at baseline using a food‐frequency questionnaire. Total intake (diet plus supplements) of the following one‐carbon metabolism‐related micronutrients were calculated: folate, methionine and vitamins B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6 and B12. These micronutrients were examined both individually and simultaneously, with adjustment for covariates. Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Over the 16‐year follow‐up period, 647 incident HCC cases were diagnosed. When examined individually, higher total vitamin B3 intake was associated with a lower HCC risk (HRQ5 vs Q1 = 0.60; 95% CI = 0.42‐0.85; Ptrend = .008), and the association remained significant when all six micronutrients were examined simultaneously (HRQ5 vs Q1 = 0.32; 95% CI = 0.18‐0.55; Ptrend < .0001). Among participants with >3 years of follow‐up, higher total vitamin B3 intake was again associated with lower risk (HRQ5 vs Q1 = 0.37; 95% CI = 0.20‐0.68; Ptrend = .001), whereas higher total vitamin B6 intake was associated with higher risk (HRQ5 vs Q1 = 2.04; 95% CI = 1.02‐4.07; Ptrend = .04). Restricted cubic spline analyses showed a dose‐response inverse association between total vitamin B3 intake and HCC risk, and dose‐response positive association between total vitamin B6 intake and HCC risk. The study suggests that higher vitamin B3 intake is associated with lower HCC risk, whereas higher vitamin B6 intake is associated with increased risk.