Editorial: Metabolism Meets Function: Untangling the Cross-Talk Between Signaling and Metabolism

Tumor metabolism is a long established field in cancer biology, as the seminal findings of Otto Warburg date back to the 1920s. Since then, the discovery that oncogenes, besides promoting the Warburg effect, modulate anabolic pathways, has prompted scientists to re-evaluate the role that tumor metabolism plays in the neoplastic process. Today, metabolic reprogramming of neoplastic cells is considered a hallmark of cancer, with the discovery that flexibility in the acquisition of various cellular characteristics is supported by specific metabolic pathways. Clinical and pharmacological advances, for example the application of FDG-PET in the clinical setting (1) and the development of novel pharmacological strategies based on antimetabolites (2), provide further support and validation of the role of metabolism in cancer. Here, we present a collection of works with the aim of bringing together work from a variety of scientists across the field of tumor metabolism toward an understanding of how different metabolic pathways are activated in neoplastic and surrounding cells, the mechanisms linking altered metabolism to tumorigenesis and the potential for pharmacological applications.