Cancer cells have deregulated metabolism that can contribute to the unique metabolic makeup of the tumor microenvironment. This can be variable between patients, and it is important to understand these differences since they potentially can affect therapy response. Here we discuss a method of processing and assaying metabolism from direct ex vivo murine and human tumor samples using seahorse extracellular flux analysis. This provides real-time profiling of oxidative versus glycolytic metabolism and can help infer the metabolic status of the tumor microenvironment.
Keywords: Extracellular flux; Glycolysis; Metabolism; Oxidative phosphorylation; Seahorse.