A simple method for in-vitro studies of cancer tissue metabolism

A simple laboratory method of investigating the metabolism of malignant tissues has been devised for liver cancer. The apparatus consists of a standard glass scintillation vial with an inner glass well suspended within it from a rubber lined cap. 14C-labelled glucose metabolised by the tumour tissue in the inner well into 14CO2 will be trapped by alkali in the outer vial, and the radioactivity quantified by liquid scintillation counting. The counts obtained will give a measure of the rate of tissue glucose oxidation. Application of this method to an animal liver tumour model has shown that the tumour tissue has a glucose oxidation rate of 2.8 times that of the host liver. The method is simple and versatile, can be adapted to various types of tissues, and may have potential clinical applications.