Review of metabolic pathways activated in cancer cells as determined through isotopic labeling and network analysis

Cancer metabolism has emerged as an indispensable part of contemporary cancer research. During the past 10 years, the use of stable isotopic tracers and network analysis have unveiled a number of metabolic pathways activated in cancer cells. Here, we review such pathways along with the particular tracers and labeling observations that led to the discovery of their rewiring in cancer cells. The list of such pathways comprises the reductive metabolism of glutamine, altered glycolysis, serine and glycine metabolism, mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) induced reprogramming and the onset of acetate metabolism. Additionally, we demonstrate the critical role of isotopic labeling and network analysis in identifying these pathways. The alterations described in this review do not constitute a complete list, and future research using these powerful tools is likely to discover other cancer-related pathways and new metabolic targets for cancer therapy.