Glucose, Lactate, and Ketone Body Utilization by Human Mammary Carcinomas in Vivo

Uncontrolled growth, one of the fundamental properties of malignant tumors, requires a great supply of energy. This energy can be derived from the use of a variety of substrates. Besides glucose oxidation and glucose breakdown to lactic acid, the turnover of endogeneous substrates such as amino acids, free fatty acids and ketone bodies is well documented in vitro. However, under in vivo conditions, only glucose utilization has been investigated in detail, using tumor isotransplants in rodents. For human tumors, only scarce data is available, derived mainly from clinical observations rather than from systematic studies.