Metabolic Plasticity as a Determinant of Tumor Growth and Metastasis

Cancer cells must adapt their metabolism to meet the energetic and biosynthetic demands that accompany rapid growth of the primary tumor and colonization of distinct metastatic sites. Different stages of the metastatic cascade can also present distinct metabolic challenges to disseminating cancer cells. However, little is known regarding how changes in cellular metabolism, both within the cancer cell and the metastatic microenvironment, alter the ability of tumor cells to colonize and grow in distinct secondary sites. This review examines the concept of metabolic heterogeneity within the primary tumor, and how cancer cells are metabolically coupled with other cancer cells that comprise the tumor and cells within the tumor stroma. We examine how metabolic strategies, which are engaged by cancer cells in the primary site, change during the metastatic process. Finally, we discuss the metabolic adaptations that occur as cancer cells colonize foreign metastatic microenvironments and how cancer cells influence the metabolism of stromal cells at sites of metastasis. Through a discussion of these topics, it is clear that plasticity in tumor metabolic programs, which allows cancer cells to adapt and grow in hostile microenvironments, is emerging as an important variable that may change clinical approaches to managing metastatic disease. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5201-8. ©2016 AACR.