1H-NMR Metabolomics of Prostate Cancer and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

This doctoral thesis investigates the metabolic differences between Prostate Cancer (PCa) and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) using 1H-NMR-based metabolomics. PCa, being the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men worldwide, and the high prevalence of BPH in aging males, highlight the clinical need for accurate differentiation between these two conditions. Current screening methods, such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and digital rectal examination (DRE), are widely used but are hindered by poor specificity and high rate of false positives. This research proposes 1H-NMR-based metabolomics as a promising alternative, offering a non-invasive, rapid, and accurate screening method. Comparative analysis revealed that 1H-NMR-based urine profiling is the most accurate, achieving 95% accuracy and an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.98, thus outperforming PSA and 1H-NMR-based serum metabolomics in screening
PCa. Metabolomic profiling of serum and urine samples demonstrated potential biomarkers, highlighting metabolic changes associated with cancer progression. Additionally, this thesis introduces Protomix, a Python package designed to streamline 1H-NMR-based metabolomics preprocessing, improving the reproducibility and accuracy of metabolomic data analysis.