Altered cell metabolism is a hallmark of
cancer and critical for its development. Particularly, activation of one-
carbon metabolism in
tumor cells can sustain
oncogenesis while contributing to epigenetic changes and metabolic adaptation during
tumor progression. We assessed whether increased one-
carbon metabolism activity is a metabolic feature of invasive
ductal carcinoma (IDC). Differences in the metabolic profile between biopsies from IDC (n = 47) and its adjacent tissue (n = 43) and between biopsies from different
breast cancer subtypes were assessed by gas spectrometry in targeted (Biocrates Life Science ® ) and untargeted approaches, respectively. The metabolomics data were statistically treated using MetaboAnalyst 4.0, SIMCA P+ (version 12.01), Statistica 10 software and t test with p < 0.05. The
Cancer Genome Atlas
breast cancer dataset was also assessed to validate the metabolomic profile of IDC. Our targeted metabolomics analysis showed distinct metabolomics profiles between IDC and adjacent tissue, where IDC displayed a comparative enrichment of metabolites involved in one-
carbon metabolism (
serine,
glycine,
threonine, and
methionine) and a predicted increase in the activity of pathways that receive and donate
carbon units (i.e.,
folate,
methionine, and
homocysteine). In addition, the targeted and untargeted metabolomics analyses showed similar metabolomics profiles between
breast cancer subtypes. The gene set enrichment analysis identified different transcription-related functions between IDC and non-
tumor tissues that involved one-
carbon metabolism. Our data suggest that one-
carbon metabolism may be a central pathway in IDC and even in general
breast tumors, representing a potential target for its treatment and prevention.