Nutritional therapy strategies and prospects for obesity-remodeled tumor metabolism

Li Hao; Hu Qihui; Huang Zhenhao; Wang Jixing; Tao Rui

doi:10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.01.020

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Electronic Journal of Metabolism and Nutrition of Cancer ›› 2026, Vol. 13 ›› Issue (1) : 148-154. DOI: 10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.01.020

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Nutritional therapy strategies and prospects for obesity-remodeled tumor metabolism

¹Li Hao, ¹Hu Qihui, ¹Huang Zhenhao, ¹Wang Jixing, ²Tao Rui

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Abstract

Metabolic adaptation is a core biological feature of tumors that enables them to survive in complex microenvironments, promote proliferation, and develop drug resistance. This adaptation is primarily characterized by the reprogramming of metabolic pathways for key nutrients such as glucose, glutamine, and lipids. By altering the utilization of these substances, tumors respond to adverse conditions in the microenvironment, including fluctuations in nutrient availability and hypoxia. Against the backdrop of the global obesity epidemic, obesity has emerged as a significant risk factor driving the rising incidence of tumors. It remodels the metabolic adaptation phenotype of tumors through multiple pathways, including inducing insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, which in turn activate tumor cell growth signaling; triggering chronic low-grade inflammation that regulates the expression of metabolism-related genes via inflammatory factors; causing ectopic fat deposition that provides additional lipid resources for tumors; and disrupting gut microbiota balance, indirectly affecting systemic metabolic homeostasis.Nutritional interventions, such as time-restricted eating, metabolic surgery, and ketogenic diets, can reverse the metabolic adaptation of tumors by modulating energy supply, dietary circadian rhythms, and the bioactivity of related metabolic pathways. This review systematically elaborates on the molecular mechanisms underlying tumor metabolic adaptation and the intersection between obesity and tumor metabolism. It summarizes the effects of nutritional therapies on tumor metabolic adaptation and looks ahead to future metabolism-targeted precision nutritional treatments.

Key words

Metabolic adaptation / Tumor / Obesity / Metabolic reprogramming / Molecular mechanisms / Gut microbiota / Nutritional therapy / Time-restricted feeding

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Li Hao, Hu Qihui, Huang Zhenhao, Wang Jixing, Tao Rui. Nutritional therapy strategies and prospects for obesity-remodeled tumor metabolism[J]. Electronic Journal of Metabolism and Nutrition of Cancer. 2026, 13(1): 148-154 https://doi.org/10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.01.020

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