Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Oct 15, 2019; 11(10): 768-772
Published online Oct 15, 2019. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v11.i10.768
Cancer-specific metabolism: Promising approaches for colorectal cancer treatment
Keun-Yeong Jeong
Keun-Yeong Jeong, The Research Center, Metimedi Pharmaceuticals, Incheon 22006, South Korea
Author contributions: Jeong KY conceived the study and drafted the manuscript; This author approved the final version of the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: This author has no conflicts of interest to declare.
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/
Corresponding author: Keun-Yeong Jeong, PhD, Executive Vice President, The Research Center, Metimedi Pharmaceuticals, 263, Central-ro, Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon 22006, South Korea. alvirus@naver.com
Telephone: +82-32-2050541 Fax: +82-32-2050542
Received: July 17, 2019
Peer-review started: July 17, 2019
First decision: August 23, 2019
Revised: September 4, 2019
Accepted: September 10, 2019
Article in press: September 10, 2019
Published online: October 15, 2019
Abstract

Investigation of cancer-specific metabolism has made it possible to establish the principle that atypically reconstituted metabolism is considered a hallmark of cancer due to changes in physiological property. Recently, a variety of targets depending on the prompted aerobic glycolysis process, starting from the abnormal uptake of glucose, and cancer-specific metabolism due to impaired mitochondrial function and abnormal expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes have been investigated and discovered. Given that most solid cancers rely on cancer-specific metabolism to support their growth, it is necessary to examine closely the specific processes of cancer metabolism and have a detailed understanding of how cellular metabolism is altered in colorectal cancer (CRC) related to CRC survival and proliferation. The development of key methods to regulate efficiently cancer-specific metabolism in CRC is still in the initial stage. Therefore, targeting cancer-specific metabolism will yield treatable methods that are critical as a new area of development strategies for CRC treatment.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer, Cancer metabolism, Warburg effect, Aerobic glycolysis, Mitochondria metabolism

Core tip: Studies of cancer-specific metabolism have been conducted for over half a century, and the importance of promoting aerobic glycolysis, cancer favorable metabolic changes in mitochondria, and abnormal expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes has been emphasized through the established theories to date. Cancer-specific metabolism is a major theoretical background that can explain the process of survival and proliferation of most solid cancers. Developing cancer-specific metabolism-target drugs provide a novel treatable method that will be critical in this new area of treatment strategies for colorectal cancer. They have not yet been conquered and have infinite growth potential.