The In Vitro Cytotoxic Effect of Elesclomol on Breast Adenocarcinoma Cells Is Enhanced by Concurrent Treatment with Glycolytic Inhibitors.

Glycolysis and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation are the two major metabolic pathways for cellular ATP production. The metabolic plasticity displayed by cancer cells allows them to effectively shift between each of these pathways as a means of adapting to various growth conditions, thus ensuring their survival, proliferation and disease progression. Metabolic plasticity also provides cancer cells with the ability to circumvent many traditional monotherapies aimed at only one or the other of the major ATP-producing pathways.