title: Connecting the Metabolic and Immune Responses to Cancer.
abstract: Separate research fields have advanced our understanding of, on the one hand, cancer immunology and, on the other hand, cachexia, the fatal tumor-induced wasting syndrome. A link between the host's immune and metabolic responses to cancer remained unexplored. Emerging work in preclinical models of colorectal and pancreatic cancer has unveiled tumor-induced reprogramming of liver metabolism in cachexia that leads to suppression of antitumor immunity and failure of immunotherapy. As research efforts in metabolism and immunology in cancer are rapidly expanding, it is timely to discuss the metabolic and immunological determinants of the cancer-host interaction. We also present the hypothesis that the convergence of host metabolism and antitumor immunity may offer a platform for biomarker-driven investigations of new combination therapies.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Li Ka Shing Centre, Cambridge CB2 0RE, UK; School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0SP, UK.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Flint
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Li Ka Shing Centre, Cambridge CB2 0RE, UK; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA; Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10021, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Fearon
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Li Ka Shing Centre, Cambridge CB2 0RE, UK; Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK. Electronic address: tj212@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Janowitz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy
keywords: cachexia; caloric deficiency; cancer immunotherapy; glucocorticoids; hepatic metabolism; interleukin-6