Insights into Metabolic Reprogramming in Tumor Evolution and Therapy.

Cancer remains a global health challenge, characterized not just by uncontrolled cell proliferation but also by the complex metabolic reprogramming that underlies its development and progression. This review delves into the intricate relationship between cancer and its metabolic alterations, drawing an innovative comparison with the cosmological concepts of dark matter and dark energy to highlight the pivotal yet often overlooked role of metabolic reprogramming in tumor evolution. It scrutinizes the Warburg effect and other metabolic adaptations, such as shifts in lipid synthesis, amino acid turnover, and mitochondrial function, driven by mutations in key regulatory genes.