Metabolic reprogramming in the tumor microenvironment of liver cancer

• Published in: Journal of hematology and oncology Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 6 - 19
• Main Authors: Lin, Jian, Rao, Dongning, Zhang, Mao, Gao, Qiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 31.01.2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Amino acids; Cancer therapies; Cholesterol; Dehydrogenases; Development and progression; Drug resistance; Fatty acids; Glucose; Gut–liver axis; Health aspects; Hepatocytes; Homeostasis; Hypoxia; Immune microenvironment; Immune response; Immunosurveillance; Immunotherapy; Kinases; Lipids; Liver cancer; Medical prognosis; Metabolic reprogramming; Metabolism; Metabolites; Metastasis; Patients; Physiological aspects; Proteomics; Remission; Review; Risk factors; Tumor microenvironment; Tumors; Immune microenvironment; Liver cancer; Gut–liver axis; Metabolic reprogramming
• ISSN: 1756-8722; 1756-8722
• DOI: 10.1186/s13045-024-01527-8

The liver is essential for metabolic homeostasis. The onset of liver cancer is often accompanied by dysregulated liver function, leading to metabolic rearrangements. Overwhelming evidence has illustrated that dysregulated cellular metabolism can, in turn, promote anabolic growth and tumor propagation in a hostile microenvironment. In addition to supporting continuous tumor growth and survival, disrupted metabolic process also creates obstacles for the anticancer immune response and restrains durable clinical remission following immunotherapy. In this review, we elucidate the metabolic communication between liver cancer cells and their surrounding immune cells and discuss how metabolic reprogramming of liver cancer impacts the immune microenvironment and the efficacy of anticancer immunotherapy. We also describe the crucial role of the gut–liver axis in remodeling the metabolic crosstalk of immune surveillance and escape, highlighting novel therapeutic opportunities.