In a significant development for cancer research in India, scientists at Tezpur University in Assam, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the United States, have identified distinct chemical changes in blood that could help detect gallbladder cancer at an earlier stage.
The findings, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, suggest that specific metabolic patterns in blood samples can distinguish gallbladder cancer patients from those with non-cancerous gallbladder conditions. Importantly, the study also differentiates between cancer patients who have gallstones and those who do not—two groups that often require different clinical approaches.
Gallbladder cancer is among the deadliest gastrointestinal cancers because it is usually diagnosed late. Early symptoms are often mild or non-specific, leading to delays in detection and treatment. In India, the burden of the disease is particularly high in certain regions, including Assam and other parts of northern and northeastern India. In these areas, gallbladder cancer ranks among the more common cancers, and late diagnosis contributes to poor survival rates.
The study, “Untargeted serum metabolomics reveals differential signatures in gallstone-associated and gallstone-free gallbladder cancer variants,” was led by Assistant Professor Pankaj Barah and research scholar Cinmoyee Baruah at Tezpur University. The international team included Amit Rai, Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois, who led the computational analysis of the complex blood data.
“Once the raw data are generated, the real challenge is making biological sense of it,” Rai said. “Properly annotating metabolites and analyzing their patterns is what allows us to move from signals in the data to meaningful insight about disease mechanisms.”
The researchers analyzed blood samples from three groups: patients with gallbladder cancer without gallstones; patients with cancer along with gallstones; and individuals who had gallstones but no cancer. Using advanced metabolomics techniques—a method that studies small molecules produced during metabolism—they detected hundreds of altered metabolites. Around 180 altered metabolites were found in gallstone-free cancer cases and 225 in gallstone-associated cancer cases.
Several of these metabolites were linked to bile acids and amino acid derivatives, which are known to play roles in tumor growth and progression. The detailed computational analysis helped the team separate overlapping chemical signals and understand how metabolic changes differ depending on whether gallstones are present.
“Our findings show that changes in certain blood metabolites can clearly distinguish gallbladder cancer cases with and without gallstones. This raises the possibility of developing simple blood-based tests that could support earlier diagnosis,” Barah said. He added that linking clinical observations with advanced laboratory tools is a crucial step toward improving real-world diagnosis and treatment.
Subhash Khanna, a gastrointestinal surgeon at Swagat Super Speciality and Surgical Hospital in India and a co-author of the study, said that identifying blood-based metabolic markers offers a practical path toward earlier detection and better clinical decision-making.
The researchers cautioned that larger, multi-centre studies across different populations are needed before such tests can be introduced in hospitals. However, the study lays important groundwork for developing non-invasive screening tools, especially in high-risk regions of India, where early diagnosis could save lives.
The research also underscored the growing importance of international scientific collaborations in tackling region-specific health challenges with global expertise.
