Metabolic plasticity of cancer cells

Abstract

Background: A general characteristic of cancer metabolism is the skill to gain the essential nutrients from a relatively poor environment and use them eff ectively to maintain viability and create new bio mass. The changes in intracellular and extracellular metabolites that accompany metabolic reprogramming associated with tumor growth subsequently aff ect gene expression, cell diff erentiation, and tumor microenvironment. During carcinogenesis, cancer cells face huge selection pressures that force them to constantly optimize dominant metabolic pathways and undergo major metabolic reorganizations. In general, greater fl exibility of metabolic pathways increases the ability of tumor cells to satisfy their metabolic needs in a changing environment. Purpose: In this review, we discuss the metabolic properties of cancer cells and describe the tumor promoting eff ect of the transformed metabolism. We assume that changes in metabolism are signifi cant enough to facilitate tumorigenesis and may provide interesting targets for cancer therapy.