Dealing with hunger: Metabolic stress responses in tumors

Abstract

Increased nutrient uptake and usage is a hallmark of many human malignancies. During the course of tumorigenesis, cancer cells often outstrip their local nutrient supply leading to periods of nutrient deprivation. Interestingly, cancer cells often develop strategies to adapt and survive these challenging conditions. Accordingly, understanding these processes is critical for developing therapies that target cancer metabolism. Exciting new progress has been made in elucidating the mechanisms used by cancer cells under nutrient restricted conditions. In this review, we highlight recent studies that have brought insight into how cancer cells deal with low nutrient environments.