CBIO-03. A COMPREHENSIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE GBM LIPIDOME REVEALS A MOLECULARLY-DEFINED SUB-GROUP WITH HEIGHTENED SENSITIVITY TO FERROPTOSIS

Cancers, including the universally lethal glioblastoma (GBM), have reprogrammed lipid metabolism to fuel tumor growth. However, the molecular alterations responsible for aberrant lipid metabolism, and the potential for identifying new therapeutic opportunities are not fully understood. To systematically investigate the GBM lipidome, we performed integrated transcriptomic, genomic and shotgun lipidomic analysis of an extensive library of molecularly diverse patient-derived GBM tumors and model systems. Using this comprehensive approach, we discovered two GBM sub-groups defined by their combined molecular and lipidomic profile. Among the most significant differences between the two groups were lipid length and desaturation. As a consequence of this signature, a subset was more sensitive to lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis. Our findings suggest a novel association between specific molecular signatures of GBM, lipid metabolism and lipid peroxidation-induced cell death. This relationship may present a new therapeutic opportunity to target reprogrammed lipid metabolism in a molecularly-defined subset of GBMs.