Energy is needed by cancer cells to stay alive and communicate with their surroundings. The primary organelles for cellular metabolism and energy synthesis are mitochondria. Researchers recently proved that cancer cells can steal immune cells’ mitochondria using nanoscale tubes. This finding demonstrates the dependence of cancer cells on normal cells for their living and function. It also denotes the importance of mitochondria in cancer cells’ biology. Emerging evidence has demonstrated how mitochondria are essential for cancer cells to survive in the harsh tumor microenvironments, evade the immune system, obtain more aggressive features, and resist treatments. For instance, functional mitochondria can improve cancer resistance against radiotherapy by scavenging the released reactive oxygen species. Therefore, targeting mitochondria can potentially enhance oncological outcomes, according to this notion. The tumors’ responses to anticancer treatments vary, ranging from a complete response to even cancer progression during treatment. Therefore, personalized cancer treatment is of crucial importance. So far, personalized cancer treatment has been based on genomic analysis. Evidence shows that tumors with high mitochondrial content are more resistant to treatment. This paper illustrates how mitochondrial metabolism can participate in cancer resistance to chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy. Pretreatment evaluation of mitochondrial metabolism can provide additional information to genomic analysis and can help to improve personalized oncological treatments. This article outlines the importance of mitochondrial metabolism in cancer biology and personalized treatments.
癌细胞需要能量来维持生命并与周围环境进行交流。细胞代谢和能量合成的主要细胞器是线粒体。研究人员最近证实，癌细胞能够通过纳米级管道窃取免疫细胞的线粒体。这一发现揭示了癌细胞在生存和功能上对正常细胞的依赖性，也表明了线粒体在癌细胞生物学中的重要性。新出现的证据表明，线粒体对癌细胞在恶劣的肿瘤微环境中存活、逃避免疫系统、获得更强侵袭性以及抵抗治疗具有关键作用。例如，功能性线粒体可通过清除释放的活性氧来增强癌细胞对放疗的抵抗能力。因此，根据这一观点，靶向线粒体可能有助于改善肿瘤治疗效果。肿瘤对抗癌治疗的反应各异，从完全缓解到治疗期间病情进展均有可能。因此，个体化癌症治疗至关重要。迄今为止，个体化癌症治疗主要基于基因组分析。有证据表明，线粒体含量高的肿瘤对治疗的抵抗性更强。本文阐述了线粒体代谢如何参与癌细胞对化疗、免疫治疗和放疗的抵抗过程。治疗前对线粒体代谢的评估可为基因组分析补充信息，并有助于优化个体化肿瘤治疗方案。本文概述了线粒体代谢在癌症生物学及个体化治疗中的重要意义。
Mitochondrial Metabolism: A New Dimension of Personalized Oncology
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家