Two human small cell lung cancer tumor lines, maintained as solid tumor xenografts on nude mice and as in vitro cell cultures, were studied by in vivo 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy and by biochemical analysis of extracts of solid tumors and cell cultures. The tumor lines CPH SCCL 54A and CPH SCCL 54B are subpopulations from the same tumor. In solid tumors (n = 125), the ATP/Pi ratio was greater in 54A than in 54B. This was due to a higher ATP level in 54A, whereas there was no difference in Pi, ADP, and AMP. A decrease in ATP/Pi during growth was caused by a decline in ATP, whereas Pi remained unchanged. Small amounts of phosphocreatine were found in the xenografts and in tumor extracts, but not in the cell extracts; correspondingly, there was a low creatine kinase activity in solid tumors and no activity in the cell cultures. Thus, the phosphocreatine content of the solid tumors originated from the stroma. A difference in ATP content between 54A and 54B was also found in cell cultures; hence, the metabolic difference is an intrinsic quality of the malignant cells and is not caused by the host system.