Strategies to Target Glucose Metabolism in Tumor Microenvironment on Cancer by Flavonoids

ABSTRACT

The imbalance between glucose metabolism and cancer cell growth in tumor microenvironment (TME), which are closely related with the occurrence and progression of cancer. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that flavonoids exert many biological properties, including antioxidant and anticarcinogenic activities. Recently, the roles and applications of flavonoids, particularly in relation to glucose metabolism in cancers, have been highlighted. Thus, the identification of flavonoids targeting alternative glucose metabolism pathways in TME may represent an attractive approach to the more effective therapeutic strategies for cancer. In this review, we will focus on the roles of flavonoids in regulating glucose metabolism and cancer cell growth in TME, such as proliferation advantage, cell mobility, and chemoresistance to cancer, as well as modifiers of thermal sensitivity. Not only have such large-scale endeavors been useful in providing fundamental insights into natural and synthesized flavonoids that can prevent and treat cancer, but also have led to the discovery of potential targets for cancer therapy.

Conflict of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81673827), Shanghai health development planning commission research project of traditional Chinese medicine (No. 2016JP008), and Shanghai Xuhui science and technology commission research project. This article is distributed under the terms of noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.