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Energetics and Cancer: Exploring a Road Less Traveled

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Physical Activity, Dietary Calorie Restriction, and Cancer

Part of the book series: Energy Balance and Cancer ((EBAC,volume 3))

Abstract

As the number of individuals who are overweight or obese continues to increase in a worldwide epidemic of positive energy imbalance, identification of the mechanisms that account for the effects of energetics on the development of cancer becomes increasingly important. In this brief review, attention is directed to the contributions of extracellular mediators and intracellular energy-sensing mechanisms to the regulation of the carcinogenic process. The signaling pathways regulated by intracellular energy sensors are integrally linked to pathways that communicate to the intracellular milieu, information about effects of the host’s energy status on the extracellular environment. Thus, the effects of energetics on cancer are likely to be accounted for by interactions among systemic factors, manifest in plasma concentrations of hormones, growth factors, and various cytokines including those arising from adipose and skeletal muscle tissues, and direct and indirect effects of energetic status on intracellular energy messengers and the proteins that detect changes in their concentrations. Collectively, the pathways regulated by energy status exert effects on cell survival/proliferation, cell death (apoptosis, autophagy, necrosis), tissue blood supply (vasculogenesis and angiogenesis), and resistance to metabolic stress, processes that are misregulated during the development of cancer.

This work was supported by United States Public Health Services Grant U54-CA116847 from the National Cancer Institute.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mary Playdon and John N. McGinley for their technical assistance in the preparation of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Prevention Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Henry J. Thompson, Weiqin Jiang & Zongjian Zhu

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  1. Henry J. Thompson
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  2. Weiqin Jiang
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  3. Zongjian Zhu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henry J. Thompson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Fairview Ave. N. 1100, Seattle, 98109-1024, Washington, USA

    Anne McTiernan

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Thompson, H.J., Jiang, W., Zhu, Z. (2011). Energetics and Cancer: Exploring a Road Less Traveled. In: McTiernan, A. (eds) Physical Activity, Dietary Calorie Restriction, and Cancer. Energy Balance and Cancer, vol 3. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7551-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7551-5_4

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