Metabolism and Immune Suppressive Response in Liver Cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) constitutes more than 90% of the primary tumor of the liver. Metabolic reprogramming is decisive in promoting HCC development. The new metabolic program drives the surrounding immune cells to an immune suppressive commitment, enabling tumor survival. The enhanced metab...

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Main Authors: Patrizio Caini, Vinicio Carloni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Biomedicines
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/13/6/1461
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author Patrizio Caini
Vinicio Carloni
author_facet Patrizio Caini
Vinicio Carloni
author_sort Patrizio Caini
collection DOAJ
description Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) constitutes more than 90% of the primary tumor of the liver. Metabolic reprogramming is decisive in promoting HCC development. The new metabolic program drives the surrounding immune cells to an immune suppressive commitment, enabling tumor survival. The enhanced metabolic activity of cancer cells leads to competition for essential nutrients, depriving non-malignant cells of critical resources. Simultaneously, the accumulation of metabolic byproducts within the tumor microenvironment (TME) selectively favors innate immune responses while impairing adaptive immunity. Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy underscore the importance of targeting both immune cell function and metabolic pathways. In this context, reprogramming the metabolism of effector and regulatory immune cells represents a promising therapeutic avenue. This review focuses on a relatively underexplored aspect of liver cancer immunology, the immunosuppressive role of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs) driven by metabolic alterations and how these mechanisms contribute to the suppression of effective anti-tumor immune responses.
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spelling doaj-art-7735e0e2b64f4a2ca2b445168355c8462025-08-20T03:26:21ZengMDPI AGBiomedicines2227-90592025-06-01136146110.3390/biomedicines13061461Metabolism and Immune Suppressive Response in Liver CancerPatrizio Caini0Vinicio Carloni1Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, ItalyDepartment of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, ItalyHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) constitutes more than 90% of the primary tumor of the liver. Metabolic reprogramming is decisive in promoting HCC development. The new metabolic program drives the surrounding immune cells to an immune suppressive commitment, enabling tumor survival. The enhanced metabolic activity of cancer cells leads to competition for essential nutrients, depriving non-malignant cells of critical resources. Simultaneously, the accumulation of metabolic byproducts within the tumor microenvironment (TME) selectively favors innate immune responses while impairing adaptive immunity. Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy underscore the importance of targeting both immune cell function and metabolic pathways. In this context, reprogramming the metabolism of effector and regulatory immune cells represents a promising therapeutic avenue. This review focuses on a relatively underexplored aspect of liver cancer immunology, the immunosuppressive role of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and regulatory T cells (Tregs) driven by metabolic alterations and how these mechanisms contribute to the suppression of effective anti-tumor immune responses.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/13/6/1461glycolysishypoxiamacrophagesregulatory T cellsepigenetics
spellingShingle Patrizio Caini
Vinicio Carloni
Metabolism and Immune Suppressive Response in Liver Cancer
Biomedicines
glycolysis
hypoxia
macrophages
regulatory T cells
epigenetics
title Metabolism and Immune Suppressive Response in Liver Cancer
title_full Metabolism and Immune Suppressive Response in Liver Cancer
title_fullStr Metabolism and Immune Suppressive Response in Liver Cancer
title_full_unstemmed Metabolism and Immune Suppressive Response in Liver Cancer
title_short Metabolism and Immune Suppressive Response in Liver Cancer
title_sort metabolism and immune suppressive response in liver cancer
topic glycolysis
hypoxia
macrophages
regulatory T cells
epigenetics
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/13/6/1461
work_keys_str_mv AT patriziocaini metabolismandimmunesuppressiveresponseinlivercancer
AT viniciocarloni metabolismandimmunesuppressiveresponseinlivercancer