Metabolism
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Weight loss in a patient with advanced cancer
Key points from this exercise:
Many people with advanced cancer suffer from cancer cachexia - significant weight loss with an elevated basal metabolic rate - so-called hypermetabolism.
A major contributor to hypermetabolism in cancer cachexia is cycling between anaerobic glycolysis in the tumour and (ATP-expensive) gluconeogenesis in the liver.
The extent of glucose cycling in this way can be estimated by measuring the appearance of label from [13C-1]glucose into other carbon atoms of glucose as a result of resynthesis of glucose from labelled lactate.