REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Microbial Immunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1582166
This article is part of the Research TopicMicrobiota Homeostasis and Metabolic Reprogramming in Cancer Development and Digestive DiseasesView all 4 articles
Crosstalk between metabolic reprogramming and microbiota: implications for cancer progression and novel therapeutic opportunities
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of thyroid head and neck surgery, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
- 2Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, Tianjin, China
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Metabolic reprogramming is a process by which cells adapt to the nutrient microenvironment by regulating energy metabolism. Compared with normal cells, tumor cells tend to undergo metabolic reprogramming, which is one of the hallmarks of concurrent genomic instability, and immune evasion in tumor cells. The microbial community, known as "second genome" of human beings, can cause systemic disease by predisposing cells to tumors, and modulating immune responses to cancer. Metabolic reprogramming and microorganisms can crosstalk with each other in multiple ways to influence various physiological and pathological responses in cancer progression. The products of increased synthesis by tumor cells can reach the intestinal tract via the circulation and act on the microorganisms, promoting mucosal inflammation, causing systemic disorders, and may also regulate the immune response to cancer. In addition, the metabolites of the microorganisms can in turn be transported to the tumor microenvironment (TME) through the systemic circulation and participate in the process of tumor metabolic reprogramming. Different molecular mechanisms related to metabolic reprogramming and microbiota imbalance control the outcome of tumor or anti-tumor responses, depending on the type of cancer, stage of the disease and the TME. In this review, we focus on the fundamental role of metabolic reprogramming in the interaction between microorganisms and cancers and explore the molecular mechanisms by which metabolic reprogramming modulates this complex biological process. This comment aims to provide valuable resources for clinicians and researchers and promote further research in the field.
Keywords: Anti-tumor therapy, metabolic reprogramming, microbiota, Tumor Microenvironment, Cancer Progression
Received: 24 Feb 2025; Accepted: 30 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Jia, Li, Hei, Zhang and Qin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jianwu Qin, Department of thyroid head and neck surgery, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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