Tumour metabolomics in animal models of human cancer

Multinuclear Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) and mass spectrometry (MS) are the key analytical techniques used in an increasing manner to explore tumor metabolite profiles. Recent work has revealed that metabolite profiles in various tumor preparations (i.e., cultured cells, tissue specimens, and tumors in vivo) show strong correlations with tumor type, proliferation, metabolic activity, and cell death. These data are regarded as highly promising for tumor diagnosis as well as assessment of prognosis and treatment response in a clinical setting. In this pursuit, animal models of human cancer have played a central role. In this short account, we review the potentials of MRS and MS techniques for animal tumor metabolomic work, as well as highlight some interesting applications of these techniques for various animal tumor types.