Cancer Cell Metabolism: Solid Tumor Versus Nonsolid Tumor

Abstract

Metabolic regulation is considered to be one of the key hallmarks of cancer. Due to its continuous proliferation and high energy demands, cancer cells undertake increased glucose uptake as proposed by Otto Warburg, resulting in the production of enough amount of energy for their replication and survival. Totally different from the normal cell metabolism, even at aerobic conditions, cancer cells undergo glycolysis rather than oxidative phosphorylation. These glycolytic events in cancer cells elevate the expression of enzymes responsible for glucose metabolism such as hexokinase, pyruvate kinase, and lactate dehydrogenase-A. In addition, increased glucose metabolism in cancer cells leads to the formation of necessary amino acids, lipids, purines, and pyrimidine via the inter-branching biosynthetic pathways such as pentose phosphate pathway, serine biosynthesis, and glutaminolysis. Although blood cancer cells have the same way of regulating their metabolism for the survival, carbohydrate metabolism relatively is known to have very less role in the metabolic regulation in blood tumors. Lipid metabolism via the STAT-3 pathways plays a crucial role in blood tumor metabolism via oxidative phosphorylation to meet their energy demands. A deep understanding of metabolic regulation in cancer cells can pave a novel path for finding specific targets and drugs that can target the cancer cell metabolism.