Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism

Solid tumors frequently outgrow their blood supply, creating oxygen-starved regions that force cancer cells to rewire how they generate energy and build new biomass. Central to this adaptation is HIF-1, a transcription factor that senses low oxygen and orchestrates a broad shift toward glycolysis—even when oxygen is available, a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect—while also drawing on glutamine to sustain growth and manage cellular stress. Researchers are now working to understand how mitochondrial function, hexokinase II activity, and the broader tumor microenvironment interact to make some cancers remarkably resilient to metabolic disruption. A pressing open question is whether selectively inhibiting glycolysis or glutamine metabolism can be translated into therapies that starve tumors without causing unacceptable harm to normal tissues that depend on the same pathways.

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143,476

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2,917,571

Keywords

HIF-1Warburg EffectTumor HypoxiaCancer Cell MetabolismGlutamine MetabolismOxygen Sensing