Immunometabolism in Cancer—The Hidden Battle Inside Your Body

Understanding How Immunometabolism Works in Your Body:

When most people think of cancer, they picture cells multiplying at an alarming rate. But there’s a more complex battle going on beneath the surface, involving your immune system and how your body manages energy. This intricate process is called immunometabolism. It focuses on how your immune cells harness energy to fight off infections and diseases like cancer. Unfortunately, cancer often finds ways to disrupt this process to its own advantage.

How Cancer Makes the Environment Unfriendly for Your Immune System?

Cancer sets up its own little ecosystem within your body, known as the tumor microenvironment. Picture it as a neighborhood that cancer constructs for itself. In this space, cancer cells hog most of the oxygen and nutrients, leaving your immune cells with hardly anything to work with. It’s like trying to put out a fire without any water. This lack of energy weakens your immune system, giving cancer the upper hand to flourish.

How Your Immune System Gets Its Energy:

Think of your immune system as your body’s defense force. Just like any army, it needs fuel to operate effectively. Immune cells get their energy from the food you eat, mainly through sugars, fats, and oxygen. When they’re battling infections or cancer, they need even more energy. Some immune cells burn through their fuel quickly (like a sprinter), while others take a more steady approach (like a marathon runner). This balance is essential for keeping your body in top shape.

Immune response to viral infection: T helper cells play a central role in immunometabolism by activating B cells to produce antibodies and cytotoxic T cells to eliminate infected cells, coordinating energy demands during immune activation.

How Cancer Tricks Your Immune Cells

Cancer doesn’t just store fuel—it also sends out signals that alter how your immune cells function. These signals can throw your body’s natural defenses off balance. Some immune cells get "reprogrammed" to actually assist cancer in growing rather than stopping it. Others become fatigued and lose their effectiveness. This phenomenon is known as immune exhaustion. These worn-out cells struggle to eliminate cancer cells, even when there are plenty of them around.

New Treatments That Focus on Energy and Immunity:

Doctors and scientists are hard at work on new treatments that not only target cancer cells but also boost your immune system's energy. Here are some approaches:

• Some medications enhance the performance of your immune cells by helping them better utilize sugar or oxygen.

• Others disrupt the signals that cancer uses to siphon off nutrients or throw your immune cells off track.

• Some research is exploring how food, exercise, and even gut health can play a role in supporting immune metabolism.

  
  

  References:

• Marzena Lenart et al. "Immunometabolism of Innate Immune Cells in Gastrointestinal Cancer." Cancers, 17 (2025). https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17091467.

• Bing Jin et al. "Cancer immunometabolism: advent, challenges, and perspective." Molecular Cancer, 23 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-024-01981-5.

• Manru Huang et al. "Immunometabolism in cancer: basic mechanisms and new targeting strategy." Cell Death Discovery, 10 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41420-024-02006-2.

• E. Eldering et al. "Immunometabolism unveiled: Pioneering breakthroughs in cancer therapeutics." Molecular Oncology, 18 (2024): 1691 - 1694. https://doi.org/10.1002/1878-0261.13670.

Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board