Mapping and quantification of biomolecules in tumor biopsies using bioluminescence

Quantitative bioluminescence and single-photon imaging have been applied for mapping concentration distributions of metabolites, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), glucose and lactate, in biopsies of cervical cancers in patients. Biopsies were taken before a conventional radiation treatment, and a number of clinically relevant data, such as local tumor control, patient survival, metastatic spread and so forth, were documented. There was no correlation between staging or grading and any of the metabolic parameters measured. Local correlations between ATP, glucose and lactate on a pixel-to-pixel basis were generally positive, with respective Spearman's correlation coefficients less in patients without clinically documented metastasis compared with those with metastatic spread. Lactate concentrations were significantly higher and scattered over a wider range in tumors with metastatic spread in comparison to malignancies in patients without metastasis. Thus, high local lactate levels of > or = 20 mumole/g appear to be associated with a high risk of metastasis, at least in human cervical tumors.