The many facets of tumor heterogeneity: Is metabolism lagging behind?

Sara Loponte, Sara Lovisa, Angela K. Deem, Alessandro Carugo, Andrea Viale

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tumor functional heterogeneity has been recognized for decades, and technological advancements are fueling renewed interest in uncovering the cell-intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence tumor development and therapeutic response. Intratumoral heterogeneity is now arguably one of the most-studied topics in tumor biology, leading to the discovery of new paradigms and reinterpretation of old ones, as we aim to understand the profound implications that genomic, epigenomic, and functional heterogeneity hold with regard to clinical outcomes. In spite of our improved understanding of the biological complexity of cancer, characterization of tumor metabolic heterogeneity has lagged behind, lost in a century-old controversy debating whether glycolysis or mitochondrial respiration is more influential. But is tumor metabolism really so simple? Here, we review historical and current views of intratumoral heterogeneity, with an emphasis on summarizing the emerging data that begin to illuminate just how vast the spectrum of metabolic strategies a tumor can employ may be, and what this means for how we might interpret other tumor characteristics, such as mutational landscape, contribution of microenvironmental influences, and treatment resistance.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1574
JournalCancers
Volume11
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2019

Keywords

  • Adaptation
  • Complexity
  • Ecosystem
  • Epigenomics
  • Evolution
  • Genomics
  • Intratumor heterogeneity
  • Metabolism
  • Reprogramming
  • Response to therapy
  • Treatment resistance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The many facets of tumor heterogeneity: Is metabolism lagging behind?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this