Mass Spectrometry: From Imaging to Metabolic Networks

A deeper understanding of inter-tumor and intra-tumor heterogeneity is a critical factor for the advancement of next generation strategies against cancer. Under the hypothesis that heterogeneous progression of tumors is mirrored by their metabolic heterogeneity, detection of biochemical mechanisms responsible of the local metabolism becomes crucial.

We show that network analysis of co-localized ions from mass spectrometry imaging data provides a detailed chemo-spatial insight into the metabolic heterogeneity of tumor. Furthermore, module preservation analysis between colorectal cancer patients with and without metastatic recurrence suggests hypotheses on the nature of the different local metabolic pathways.