Cancer Discussion Group
The New York Academy of Sciences
eBriefing 
Therapeutic Advances in Cancer Metabolism and Signaling
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Posted July 31, 2020
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The observation that cancer cells often have fundamentally different metabolic activities than their normal counterparts has led to resurgent interest in the field of cancer metabolism, and the designation of altered metabolism as a hallmark of cancer. Evidence suggests that cancer cells can leverage metabolic pathways to enhance survival, fuel proliferation, and even promote migration and distant metastatic colonization. Moreover, metabolites can act as signals or inhibitors that directly regulate chromatin-modifying enzymes, thereby influencing cell fate decisions that can be critical for cancer progression. These findings collectively suggest that targeting metabolic pathways provides new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of various cancer types. However, several of the metabolic alterations evident in cancer cells are also present in highly proliferative healthy cells, complicating attempts to safely and specifically target cancer cells. Therefore, it is critical to understand metabolic abnormalities in cancer, how oncogenic drivers trigger such changes, and whether metabolic differences represent viable targets for therapy.
The annual Cancer Metabolism and Signaling conference, held virtually on April 17, 2020, convened experts to discuss the defining features of cancer cell metabolism, and metabolic regulation in tumor progression and metastasis.
In this eBriefing, You’ll Learn:
- Advances in the understanding of iron metabolism and cancer progression
- The latest findings on the role of autophagy in cancer metabolism
- How metabolism affects T Cell responses in cancer
- Potential metabolic targets in cancer metastasis