title: Reexamining How Cancer Cells Exploit the Body's Metabolic Resources.
abstract: A key feature of multicellular life is the sharing of nutritional resources by all cells of the organism. In animals, the allocation of nutrients to individual cells is not determined in a cell-autonomous fashion. Instead, growth factor and hormonal signaling pathways have evolved to regulate cellular nutrient uptake, which prevents individual cells from parasitizing the organism's metabolic reserves. Cancer is a condition where the highly ordered regulation of nutrient distribution is disrupted. During carcinogenesis, transformed cells acquire mutations in signaling pathways that render nutrient uptake cell-autonomous. A deeper understanding of how the acquisition of potential nutrients is regulated may help develop improved approaches to cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10065.
authors.forename: Craig B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10065.
authors.forename: Wilhelm
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Palm
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins