Stable isotope-resolved metabolomics analyses of metabolic phenotypes reveal variable glutamine metabolism in different patient-derived models of non-small cell lung cancer from a single patient.

This suggests that caution is needed in interpreting cancer biochemistry using patient-derived cancer cells in vitro or in xenografts, even at very early passage, and that direct analysis of patient derived tissue slices provides the optimal model for ex vivo metabolomics. Further research is needed to determine the generality of these observations.