Main description:

Genetic alterations in cancer, in addition to being the fundamental drivers of tumorigenesis, can give rise to a variety of metabolic adaptations that allow cancer cells to survive and proliferate in diverse tumor microenvironments. This metabolic flexibility is different from normal cellular metabolic processes and leads to heterogeneity in cancer metabolism within the same cancer type or even within the same tumor.

In this book, we delve into the complexity and diversity of cancer metabolism, and highlight how understanding the heterogeneity of cancer metabolism is fundamental to the development of effective metabolism-based therapeutic strategies. Deciphering how cancer cells utilize various nutrient resources will enable clinicians and researchers to pair specific chemotherapeutic agents with patients who are most likely to respond with positive outcomes, allowing for more cost-effective and personalized cancer therapeutic strategies.

Contents:

A. The metabolism of cancer cells

I. Glucose metabolism

1. The Warburg Effect

2. Up-regulation of glucose uptake

3. Dysregulation of TCA cycle

4. Dysregulation of pentose phosphate pathway

5. Glycogen and gluconeogenesis

5. Targeting glucose metabolism for cancer therapy

II. Glutamine Metabolism

6. Glutamine addiction

7. TCA cycle fed solely by glutamine

8. Reductive carboxylation

9. Targeting glutamine metabolism for cancer therapy

III. Amino acid metabolism

10. Transaminase up-regulation

11. Targeting amino acid synthesis for cancer therapy

IV. Lipid metabolism

12. Dysregulation of lipid metabolism in cancer

13. Targeting lipid metabolism for cancer therapy

V. Epigenetics and oncometabolites

B. Heterogeneity of Cancer Metabolism

I. Specific oncogenic mutations lead to specific metabolic phenotypes within same tissue of origin

14. Pancreatic cancer

15. Glioblastomas

16. Renal cell carcinomas

17. Breast cancers

18. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

II. Intratumoral heterogeneity of cancer cell metabolism

19. Intratumoral genetic alterations leads to adaptive metabolic heterogeneity

20. Different tumor microenvironments lead to different metabolic phenotypes

III. Differential metabolism in vitro and in vivo

C. Carcinoma associated fibroblasts (CAFs)

21. Characteristics of CAFs

22. Reverse Warburg effect

23. Metabolic exchange between CAFs and cancer cells