The Interdependence of Carbon Substrates and Metabolic Pathways Enables the Metabolic Plasticity of Cancer Cells.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review and conceptual framework paper without primary empirical human data.
PubMed 42435165 · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-12166-0_1
What was done
This chapter outlines a conceptual framework reviewing the metabolic interdependence between malignant and non-malignant cells in the tumor microenvironment, focusing on carbon substrate utilization and metabolic plasticity during cancer progression.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative data or numerical findings. It conceptually describes how cancer cells adaptively repurpose key carbon substrates (glucose, lactate, glutamine, cysteine, and fatty acids) to sustain energy production, biomass synthesis, and redox homeostasis.
Why it matters
The framework contextualizes tumors as dynamic ecosystems where metabolic plasticity enables survival under nutrient stress, providing conceptual background for metabolic targeting strategies.
Limits
This is a narrative, theoretical review with no original experimental measurements, clinical cohorts, systematic search methodology, or quantitative outcome data.
Cited by
- context Metastatic cancer cells are driven by glutamine and require glucose to fuel their growth.