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The Tumor Microenvironment

The Tumor Microenvironment

Every normal cell or tissue is embedded in a complex local environment called stroma, consisting of different cell types, a basal membrane, and blood vessels. As normal cells mutate and develop into cancer cells, their local environment also changes to allow cancer progression. The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of a complex cellular matrix of stromal cells and the developing tumor. The cross-talk between cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells is critical to disrupt normal tissue...

The Tumor Microenvironment

The Tumor Microenvironment

Every normal cell or tissue is embedded in a complex local environment called stroma, consisting of different cell types, a basal membrane, and blood vessels. As normal cells mutate and develop into cancer cells, their local environment also changes to allow cancer progression. The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of a complex cellular matrix of stromal cells and the developing tumor. The cross-talk between cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells is critical to disrupt normal tissue...

Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells

Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells

Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 10, 2026

Quantifying the Brain Metastatic Tumor Micro-Environment using an Organ-On-A Chip 3D Model, Machine Learning, and Confocal Tomography

Quantifying the Brain Metastatic Tumor Micro-Environment using an Organ-On-A Chip 3D Model, Machine Learning, and Confocal Tomography

Published on: August 16, 2020

Bioengineered systems to exploit tumor microenvironment metabolism.

Christine Sanganoo¹, Ilaria Caturegli², Zachary Mattes³

¹Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, 700 Albany St W302, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Trends in Cancer

|May 8, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Bioengineering strategies can target tumor metabolic dysregulation by harnessing the tumor microenvironment (TME). These approaches aim to disrupt cancer cell metabolism and restore immune function for novel cancer therapies.

Keywords:

antimetabolite delivery biomaterials cancer metabolism immunosuppressive metabolite modulation tumor microenvironment

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Last Updated: May 10, 2026

Quantifying the Brain Metastatic Tumor Micro-Environment using an Organ-On-A Chip 3D Model, Machine Learning, and Confocal Tomography

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Published on: August 16, 2020

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Published on: September 5, 2025

Microfluidic Co-Culture Models for Dissecting the Immune Response in in vitro Tumor Microenvironments

Microfluidic Co-Culture Models for Dissecting the Immune Response in in vitro Tumor Microenvironments

Published on: April 30, 2021

Area of Science:

Oncology
Metabolic Engineering
Immunotherapy

Background:

Cancer metabolism is dysregulated, presenting therapeutic targets.
Molecular therapies targeting cancer metabolism show clinical success.
Bioengineering approaches for cancer metabolism are emerging.

Purpose of the Study:

To review key metabolic pathways and genetic dysregulations in the tumor microenvironment (TME) for therapeutic intervention.
To examine bioengineering strategies targeting tumor metabolic dependencies.
To focus on clinical applications and future directions for bioengineered cancer therapies.

Main Methods:

Review of metabolic pathways and genetic dysregulations in the TME.
Examination of bioengineered biomaterial and cellular systems.
Analysis of strategies including metabolite uptake prevention, inhibitor delivery, and immune environment restoration.

Main Results:

Identified key metabolic vulnerabilities in the TME.
Described bioengineering approaches to exploit these vulnerabilities.
Highlighted strategies to modulate the metabolic and immune TME.

Conclusions:

Bioengineering offers promising avenues for cancer therapy by targeting tumor metabolism.
Strategies focus on disrupting nutrient supply, inhibiting metabolic enzymes, and enhancing anti-tumor immunity.
Future directions emphasize clinical translation and improved tolerability of these novel therapies.