Assessment of the Metabolic Profile of Primary Leukemia Cells

The metabolic requirement of cancer cells can negatively influence survival and treatment efficacy. Nowadays, pharmaceutical targeting of metabolic pathways is tested in many types of tumors. Thus, characterization of cancer cell metabolic setup is inevitable in order to target the correct pathway to improve the overall outcome of patients. Unfortunately, in a majority of cancers, the malignant cells are quite difficult to obtain in higher numbers and the tissue biopsy is required. Leukemia is an exception, where a sufficient number of leukemic cells can be isolated from the bone marrow. Here, we provide a detailed protocol for the isolation of leukemic cells from leukemia patients bone marrow and subsequent analysis of their metabolic state using extracellular flux analyzer. Leukemic cells are isolated by the density gradient, which does not affect their viability. The next cultivation step helps them to regenerate, thus the metabolic state measured is the state of cells in optimal conditions. This protocol allows achieving consistent, well-standardized results, which could be used for the personalized therapy.