One of the hallmarks of cancer is deregulated metabolism, often characterized by increased glucose and glutamine uptake for energetic and anabolic purposes. Changes in the activity of metabolic pathways can arise as a result of oncogenic mutations and tumour cell environment and contribute to signalling pathways amplifying cancer progression.

Metabolic changes contribute to well-established tumour heterogeneity, which is a major challenge for anti-cancer therapeutics. Visualising and quantifying the spatial distribution of metabolites and the activity of metabolic pathways within different tumour regions, metastatic lesions and in surrounding healthy tissue can unveil metabolic vulnerabilities for novel or combination therapies.

Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) allows mass spectrometric analysis of both the composition and structural architecture of intact tissue samples. The ability of MSI instruments to detect a broad range of biomolecules allows mapping and quantification of endogenous molecules to assess metabolic heterogeneity. In this work, MSI methods were developed for specific detection, visualisation and quantification of polar and lipid metabolites in situ.