Metabolite Imaging at the Margin: Visualizing Metabolic Tumor Gradients Using Mass Spectrometry

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumors are highly metabolic and vascularized, yet little has been reported regarding the spatial localization of metabolic activity within these tumors. A mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) study by Randall and colleagues in this issue provides provocative observations of metabolic gradients in xenograft GBM models. The intensity of acylcarnitines is dramatically increased at tumor margins, which interface with normal tissue, but not in tumor margins at the edge of the brain. A secondary examination of drug metabolites suggests that the observed metabolic gradients are pharmacologically relevant. These findings underscore previously undescribed spatial metabolic heterogeneity in GBM biology and opportunities for MSI investigations.