ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the influence of nutrient and metabolite conditions on the response of cells to elevated temperatures, i.e. 41–46 °C. Blood flow rates in normal tissues vary enormously, i.e. by a factor of 100 or more, presumably in concert with the function and metabolic activity of the particular tissue. The metabolic status of tumor tissue is governed only by blood flow characteristics of the tissue of origin, but also by any change in the metabolic characteristics of the tissue associated with malignant transformation. Interest in the glycolytic characteristics of tumor and normal tissue can be traced to the pioneering work of Warburg who showed that tumor slices in general exhibited a higher rate of aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis than normal tissues. Resolution of the relationship between extracellular pH and intracellular pH, as well as whether intracellular acidification is necessary for thermal sensitization is of more than academic interest.
