Amara CS, et al. - In this LC/MS-based targeted metabolomic analysis, researchers investigated serum metabolite-associated genes related to survival in smokers with bladder cancer. In serum samples from two independent cohorts of bladder cancer never smokers, smokers, healthy smokers, and healthy never smokers, they analyzed >300 metabolites. They used Biocrates absoluteIDQ p180 Kit to validate a subset of differential metabolites. In order to obtain an intersecting signature specific for bladder cancer smokers, they combined the genes related to differential metabolites with a publicly available cohort of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Dysregulated amino acid metabolism was found via serum metabolic profiling of bladder cancer smokers. It offered a distinct gene signature that was found to be significant for predicting bladder cancer smoker survival. A significant association of atechol-O-methyltransferase, iodotyrosine deiodinase, and tubulin tyrosine ligase, with patient survival was seen in publicly available bladder cancer smoker datasets, with no clinical association seen in never smokers.