Given the success of
Volume I of this Research Topic, and how rapidly the subject area is evolving, we are pleased to announce the launch of Volume II: Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets of Reprogrammed Tumor Metabolism.
Although numerous novel therapeutic strategies were developed in the past decades from tumor studies, malignant tumors still pose a threat to global public health. Due to the complexity of tumor initiation and progression, the etiologies enumerating other aspects of tumors necessitate further study.
Reprogrammed metabolism is a hallmark of malignancy. In some cases, reprogrammed metabolic activities can be exploited to diagnose, monitor, and treat cancer. Metabolic reprogramming is an active process governed by oncogenes and tumor suppressors, which provides tumor cells with energy, reducing equivalents and biosynthetic precursors. In vitro, the stereotypic activities of tumors include aerobic glycolysis, glutamine catabolism, macromolecular synthesis, and redox homeostasis. These metabolites and energy support the requirements of tumor cell proliferation. Beyond cell proliferation, it is becoming increasingly clear that cellular metabolism is tightly associated with tumor cell fate and phenotype, as it controls the epigenetic landscape of tumor cells and how these cells interact with their surrounding microenvironment, including other cancer cells, stromal cells and immune cells. Importantly, these metabolic interactions are key in regulating tumor progression and shaping the response to chemotherapies. This has produced the widespread perception that a core set of fixed metabolic dependencies will prove to be excellent biomarkers and therapeutic targets across diverse tumor types.
Recent work in tumor metabolism has focused on assessing metabolic phenotypes in native in vivo microenvironments. This has produced a greater appreciation for metabolic heterogeneity among tumors, expanding the scope of metabolic dependencies beyond the classical pathways that dominate metabolism in vitro. Evidence also indicates that metabolic phenotypes evolve as tumors progress, with new dependencies emerging in the context of therapy resistance and metastasis.
This Research Topic aims to cover novel mechanistic insights on molecular pathways and cellular processes involved in tumor metabolic reprogramming. Basic/clinical research and review with focus on tumor metabolisms are welcomed. Transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics studies that reveal new cellular or biochemical aspects of connection between reprogrammed metabolism and tumor initiation or progression are also welcome.
Potential sub-topics include:
1) New metabolism molecular targets research
2) New models for tumor diagnostic and therapeutic study in tumor specific metabolism
3) Reprogrammed metabolism research in tumor initiation or progression
4) Progression on drug targeting tumor metabolism
5) New metabolic biomarker for tumor initiation or progression
