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Updated: Feb 23, 2026

Analytical Techniques for Assaying Nitric Oxide Bioactivity
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Analytical Techniques for Assaying Nitric Oxide Bioactivity

Published on: June 18, 2012

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Nitric Oxide: The Forgotten Child of Tumor Metabolism

Bahar Salimian Rizi1, Abhinav Achreja2, Deepak Nagrath3

  • 1Agilent Technologies, Lexington, Massachusetts, USA; These authors contributed equally to this work.

Trends in Cancer
|September 5, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Nitric oxide (NO) plays dual roles in cancer, influencing tumor growth and patient outcomes. Targeting NO metabolism alongside standard therapies may improve cancer treatment effectiveness.

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Nitric oxide (NO) is a crucial signaling molecule with diverse physiological functions.
  • In cancer, NO exhibits both tumor-promoting and tumor-suppressing roles, impacting neoplasticity, invasiveness, and chemoresistance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the intricate mechanisms linking nitric oxide to cancer hallmarks.
  • To explore the potential of co-targeting NO metabolism with existing cancer therapies for enhanced patient outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies investigating nitric oxide's role in cancer.
  • Analysis of NO's impact on cancer cell metabolism, immune evasion, and angiogenesis.
  • Discussion of NO's regulatory effects on protein modifications and epigenetic alterations.

Main Results:

  • NO synthesis and signaling are associated with key cancer characteristics, including altered metabolism, invasiveness, and immune evasion.
  • Exogenous NO influences the tumor microenvironment, affecting paracrine signaling, immune responses, and angiogenesis.
  • NO-mediated posttranslational modifications (e.g., S-nitrosation) and epigenetic changes can exert both tumor-promoting and tumor-suppressing effects.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding the complex roles of NO in cancer is critical for developing novel therapeutic strategies.
  • Co-targeting NO metabolism with first-line cancer therapies presents a promising avenue for improving treatment outcomes.
  • Quantitative flux analysis is essential for a comprehensive study of NO dynamics within tumors.
Keywords:
NO flux analysisS-nitrosationcancer metabolismepigeneticsnitric oxidetumor microenvironment

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