REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Metabolism
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1582116
Targeting amino acid in tumor therapy
Provisionally accepted
- Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
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Tumor cells undergo profound metabolic reprogramming to sustain their rapid growth and proliferation, with amino acids serving as essential nutrients critical for protein synthesis, energy metabolism, nucleotide production, and redox balance. The increased reliance of tumor cells on specific amino acids represents a promising therapeutic target. This review provides an in-depth analysis of the biological roles of amino acids in cancer, identifies vulnerabilities associated with amino acid dependency, and discusses strategies to leverage these weaknesses for enhanced cancer treatment. We explore the mechanisms governing amino acid uptake, utilization, and metabolism in tumor cells, as well as their interactions with the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, the review addresses the challenges and prospects of targeting amino acid metabolism in cancer therapy, including issues of resistance, the complexity of metabolic pathways, and the potential for personalized treatment approaches.
Keywords: cancer metabolim, Amino acid, Metabolism, cancer therapy, amino acid metabolism
Received: 24 Feb 2025; Accepted: 30 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ge, Xu, Cui, huang, Liu and Yin. 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: Kai Yin, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.