Zhang Q, Lou Y, Bai XL, Liang TB. Immunometabolism: A novel perspective of liver cancer microenvironment and its influence on tumor progression. World J Gastroenterol 2018; 24(31): 3500-3512 [PMID: 30131656 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i31.3500]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ting-Bo Liang, MD, PhD, Attending Doctor, Chief Doctor, Doctor, Full Professor, Research Fellow, Surgeon, Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 88 Jiefang Road, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China. liangtingbo@zju.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 21, 2018; 24(31): 3500-3512 Published online Aug 21, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i31.3500
Immunometabolism: A novel perspective of liver cancer microenvironment and its influence on tumor progression
Qi Zhang, Yu Lou, Xue-Li Bai, Ting-Bo Liang
Qi Zhang, Yu Lou, Xue-Li Bai, Ting-Bo Liang, Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China
Qi Zhang, Yu Lou, Xue-Li Bai, Ting-Bo Liang, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang Q and Lou Y contributed equally to this work; Liang TB and Bai XL designed the research; Zhang Q and Lou Y performed the research; Zhang Q and Lou Y wrote the paper; Liang TB and Bai XL revised the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Ting-Bo Liang, MD, PhD, Attending Doctor, Chief Doctor, Doctor, Full Professor, Research Fellow, Surgeon, Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 88 Jiefang Road, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China. liangtingbo@zju.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-571-87783510 Fax: +86-571-87783510
Received: April 16, 2018 Peer-review started: April 16, 2018 First decision: May 16, 2018 Revised: May 29, 2018 Accepted: June 27, 2018 Article in press: June 27, 2018 Published online: August 21, 2018
Abstract
The initiation and progression of liver cancer, including hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, are dependent on its tumor microenvironment. Immune cells are key players in the liver cancer microenvironment and show complicated crosstalk with cancer cells. Emerging evidence has shown that the functions of immune cells are closely related to cell metabolism. However, the effects of metabolic changes of immune cells on liver cancer progression are largely undefined. In this review, we summarize the recent findings of immunometabolism and relate these findings to liver cancer progression. We also explore the translation of the understanding of immunometabolism for clinical use.
Core tip: The liver microenvironment provides a special place for initiation and progression of liver cancer, in which immune cells play a vital role. On the one hand, immunosuppression leads to tumor survival and progression; on the other hand, the instigation of tumor metabolites and signal molecules to immune cells makes the state of immunosuppression further strengthened. Intensive studies of the metabolic state of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment is beneficial to our understanding of the regulation of pro-tumor patterns, and to provide theoretical basis and guidance for immunometabolic therapies for liver cancer.
