Decoding Cancer Metabolism: Recent Insights and Future Directions

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2026) | Viewed by 6287

Editors


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Guest Editor
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Interests: cancer metabolism; immune metabolism; stem cells

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Guest Editor
Department of Cell, Developmental, & Integrative Biology, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
Interests: cancer biology; nanotechnology; cell biology; theranostics; immunotherapy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A major hallmark of cancer is the dysregulation of cellular energetics. Recent advances in the field of cancer metabolism have revealed critical insights into how cancer cells change their metabolic pathways to support rapid growth and survival. Researchers have identified the key alterations in metabolic processes, such as increased glycolysis (Warburg effect), enhanced fatty acid synthesis, and reliance on glutamine. Interestingly, different types of cancer cells rely on different metabolic pathways and rewire their metabolism accordingly to thrive in stress conditions. Technologies like metabolomics and advanced imaging techniques have allowed scientists to visualize these changes in real time and understand their implications for tumor behavior. Furthermore, the interplay between metabolism and the tumor microenvironment has become a significant focus, highlighting how cancer cells manipulate the surrounding cells and nutrients to their advantage. Targeting these metabolic pathways offers promising therapeutic strategies, with several novel drugs in clinical trials aimed at disrupting the metabolic adaptations of cancer cells. These advances are paving the way for more effective and personalized cancer treatments.

The purpose of this Issue is to highlight the recent findings in cancer metabolism. The goal of this Issue is to provide a broad scope that includes research papers and reviews related to the specific interactions between cancer cells and immune cells or other microenvironment cells. Furthermore, how cancer initiation, progression, and metastasis are linked with physiological metabolism alteration will be discussed, along with targeting cancer cell metabolism as a vulnerability to induce cell death and novel mechanisms on how different proteins/molecules regulate cancer metabolism.

Dr. Parash Prasad
Dr. Snehasis R. Mishra
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • glutamine metabolism
  • Warburg effect
  • anaplerosis
  • fatty acid metabolism
  • ferroptosis
  • oncometabolites
  • hypoxia
  • mitochondrial dynamics
  • reactive oxygen species
  • glutathione synthesis
  • nutrient sensing

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 3064 KB  
Article
Inhibition of Tumor Microenvironment-Driven JAK-STAT Signaling Enhances Response to Arginine Deprivation Therapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
by Hila Tishler, Shahar Ziman, Kuoyuan Cheng, Kun Wang, Neel Sanghvi, Lital Adler, Gil Stelzer, Hillary Maniriho, Bareket Dassa, Elizabeta Bab-Dinitz, Michal Levi, Sivan Galai, Omer Goldman, Yarden Ariav, Naama Darzi, Saar Ezagouri, Nitsan Nimni, Nataly Rosenfeld, Ron Rotkopf, Alexander Brandis, Tevie Mehlman, Roni Oren, Mirie Zerbib, Yuri Kuznetsov, Sara Donzelli, Giovanni Blandino, Rony Seger, Eytan Ruppin and Ayelet Erezadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Cells 2026, 15(1), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells15010025 - 23 Dec 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1634
Abstract
Argininosuccinate synthetase 1 (ASS1) expression and arginine availability are key metabolic determinants that influence tumor fitness and regulate immune interactions within the tumor microenvironment (TME). Using an orthotopic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) model, we demonstrate that arginine deprivation heightens tumor dependence on the [...] Read more.
Argininosuccinate synthetase 1 (ASS1) expression and arginine availability are key metabolic determinants that influence tumor fitness and regulate immune interactions within the tumor microenvironment (TME). Using an orthotopic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) model, we demonstrate that arginine deprivation heightens tumor dependence on the TME for survival. Mechanistically, fibroblasts sustain tumor viability by supplying arginine, whereas macrophages cooperate with stromal cues to activate Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling, thereby enhancing tumor survival. Concordantly, a JAK-STAT gene-expression signature correlates with ASS1 levels in human TNBC datasets. Translationally, combined pharmacological inhibition of JAK signaling with arginine deprivation markedly suppresses tumor growth. Together, these findings reveal a TME-driven, targetable stromal–immune circuit that enables tumors to withstand arginine deficiency-induced metabolic stress. Broadly, our work highlights that mapping and strategically inducing metabolic dependencies can reveal actionable compensatory pathways, offering opportunities to improve cancer therapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decoding Cancer Metabolism: Recent Insights and Future Directions)
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Review

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28 pages, 970 KB  
Review
Precision Immunotherapeutics for Glioblastoma: Current Approaches and Emerging Strategies in 2026
by James Poe, Claire Kim, Campbell Coleman, Hieu Nguyen, Vaithish Velazhahan, Brandon Bergsneider, Vivek Sanker, Samuel Kim, Yijiang Chen, Matthew Abikenari, John Choi and Michael Lim
Cells 2026, 15(6), 561; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells15060561 - 20 Mar 2026
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3667
Abstract
Glioblastoma (GBM) persists as one of the greatest challenges in the treatment of human cancer, despite extensive efforts to leverage the therapeutic potential of immunotherapy. While checkpoint blockade and other forms of immunotherapy have revolutionized the treatment of various cancers, their therapeutic efficacy [...] Read more.
Glioblastoma (GBM) persists as one of the greatest challenges in the treatment of human cancer, despite extensive efforts to leverage the therapeutic potential of immunotherapy. While checkpoint blockade and other forms of immunotherapy have revolutionized the treatment of various cancers, their therapeutic efficacy in GBM has been hindered by the profound immunosuppressive environment, spatial heterogeneity, and dynamic immune metabolic challenges associated with the tumor microenvironment. In this review, we will synthesize recent advances and insights to develop a next-generation framework for GBM immunotherapy based on systems biology approaches to understanding the complex interplay between GBM and the immune system, as opposed to single-axis approaches to immune activation and modulation. We will discuss how the functional competence of the interferon system, myeloid antigen presentation status, T-cell clone status, spatial organization of the immune microenvironment, and resource competition between GBM and the immune system dictate therapeutic responsiveness. Furthermore, the current paper elucidates how recent advances in spatial transcriptomics, single-cell analysis, and high-parameter imaging enable us to understand how immune phenotype status varies across GBM regions and treatment status, and how this information can be used to develop predictive and pharmacodynamic biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy and failure. We will then discuss how these advances form the basis for rational combination approaches to GBM immunotherapy, which involve the integration of checkpoint blockade with metabolic reprogramming, myeloid modulation, and interferon system reactivation, and how artificial intelligence-based analytics and adaptive clinical trial design can guide the development of biomarker-based therapeutic selection approaches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decoding Cancer Metabolism: Recent Insights and Future Directions)
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