The study of the tumor metabolism, also known as tumor metabolome describes the different characteristic metabolic changes in tumor cells. The characteristic attributes of the tumor metabolome are high glycolytic enzyme activities, the expression of the pyruvate kinase isoenzyme type M2, increased channeling of glucose carbons into synthetic processes, such as nucleic acid, amino acid and phospholipid synthesis, a high rate of pyrimidine and purine de novo synthesis, a low ratio of Adenosine triphosphate and Guanosine triphosphate to Cytidine triphosphate and Uridine triphosphate, low Adenosine monophosphate levels, high glutaminolytic capacities, release of immunosuppressive substances and dependency on methionine.
Although the link between the cancer and metabolism was observed in the early days of cancer research by Otto Heinrich Warburg, which is also known as Warburg hypothesis, not much substantial research was carried out until the late 1990s because of the lack of in vitro tumor models and the difficulty in creating environments that lack oxygen. Recent research has revealed that metabolic reprogramming occurs as a consequence of mutations in cancer genes and alterations in cellular signaling. Therefore, the alteration of cellular and energy metabolism has been suggested as one of The Hallmarks of Cancer.