Metabolic crosstalk between thermogenic adipocyte and cancer cell: Dysfunction and therapeutics

As one of the largest endocrine organs with a wide distribution in organisms, adipose tissue secretes multiple adipokines, cytokines, metabolites, and exosomes to promote tumour development. Elaborating the crosstalk between cancer cells and adipocytes provides a tissue-level perspective of cancer progression, which reflects the heterogeneity and complexity of human tumours. Three main types of adipose tissues, white, brown, and beige adipose tissue, have been described. Thermogenic capacity is a prominent characteristic of brown and beige adipocytes. Most studies so far mainly focus on the contribution of white adipocytes to the tumour microenvironment. However, the role of thermogenic adipose tissue in malignant cancer behaviour has been largely overlooked. Recently, emerging evidence suggests that beige/brown adipocytes play a key role in the development and progression of various cancers. This review focuses on the bidirectional communication between tumour cells and thermogenic adipocytes and the therapeutic strategies to disrupt this interaction.