Metabolic Abnormalities and Breast Cancer: Challenges from Bench to Bedside

About this Research Topic

Background

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy and the second most frequent cause of cancer-related death in women. Despite rapid progress in the development of multi-disciplinary treatments, metastasis and drug resistance represent a significant barrier to the survival of breast cancer patients. A general characteristic of cancerous cells is the capability to obtain nutrients and to use them to sustain their transformed state, build biomass, and facilitate cell proliferation and invasion. Host metabolic abnormalities, tumor metabolic reprogramming and tumor microenvironment metabolic pathway interactions have great impact on breast cancer development, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance.

Host metabolic abnormalities, such as obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, affect disease development, treatment response, and prognosis. Metabolic reprogramming is also an emerging hallmark of breast cancer. Tumor cells exhibit distinct metabolic phenotypes, including glycolysis and altered metabolism of carbohydrates, fat, and protein, to fuel their proliferation and drug resistance, which opens up new strategies for overcoming breast cancer metastasis and resistance. In addition, the tumor microenvironment - including fibroblasts, immune cells and adipocytes - can affect the tumor cells’ metabolic pathways, leading to breast cancer cell behaviour change. Understanding the clinical associations, molecular mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets of the above metabolism abnormalities can help us better comprehend the biology of breast cancer and improve disease outcome.

This Research Topic is aimed at finding new associations, biomarkers, targets, and mechanisms of metabolic abnormalities to explain breast cancer carcinogenesis, proliferation, invasion, lymphangiogenesis, angiogenesis, drug resistance, metastasis and altered phenotypes. We welcome contributions of Original Research, Clinical Trial, Systematic Review, Mini Review and Hypothesis, and Theory articles encompassing clinical, translational, and basic researches focusing on, but not limited to, the following aspects:
● Obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and breast cancer;
● Novel metabolic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment;
● Metabolism reprogramming of breast cancer cells;
● Metabolic pathways in the tumor microenvironment;
● Metabolism in immune cell regulation;
● Genetic evolution in breast cancer metabolism;
● Epigenetic and post-translational modifications in metabolism-associated genes;
● RNAs and transcriptional regulation of metabolic genes related to breast cancer.

Keywords: Breast Cancer, Metabolism Abnormalities, Metabolic Reprogramming, Tumor Microenvironment, Obesity

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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