Oxidative metabolism and glycolysis in benign brain tumors.

Glucose utilization in vivo and hexokinase activity and mitochondrial oxygen consumption in vitro were measured in a series of human brain tumors. Several relatively slow-growing tumors appeared to have depressed electron-transport activities coupled with a compensatory elevated glucose utilization. These data suggest that a decrease in oxidative metabolism and a corresponding increase in glycolysis are not necessarily correlated with malignancy in certain human brain tumors.