Polyamines have been widely investigated as potential
biomarkers for various types of
cancers, including
lung cancer, which is one of the most common causes of death from
cancer worldwide. This study was carried out to evaluate the value of
polyamines that serve as early diagnostic and
cancer progression markers as well as drug evaluation for
lung cancer (
squamous cell carcinoma of lung, SCCL). SCCL was induced in Wistar rats by intratracheal instillation of
3-methylcholanthrene and treated with three different anti-
cancer drugs, Aidi
injections,
fluorouracil, and a combination of them. After
carcinogenesis for 28, 70 and 98 days and
therapy for 28 and 56 days, the
polyamine levels in plasma of SCCL, healthy and treated rats were determined using a UHPLC-MS/MS assay base on the means of targeted metabolomics. Results showed that increased
N-acetylputrescine,
cadaverine and
1,3-diaminopropane levels were associated with progression of SCCL. The levels of
cadaverine and
1,3-diaminopropane returned to normal after administration of the three different kinds of anticancer drug. In addition, the suitability of using
N-acetylputrescine,
cadaverine and
1,3-diaminopropane as
biomarkers was confirmed by PLS-DA and ROC analysis. It can provide an innovative and effective way for the clinical diagnosis, prevention and treatment of
lung cancer, and stimulate a theoretical basis for the design and development of new anticancer drugs. At the same time, this increased the clinical options for
polyamines as
cancer biomarkers.