Understanding serine and glycine metabolism in cancer: a path towards precision medicine to improve patient’s outcomes

• Published in: Discover. Oncology Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 652 - 14
• Main Authors: Sánchez-Castillo, Anaís, Kampen, Kim R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 13-11-2024; Springer Nature B.V; Springer
• Subjects: Amino acids; Angiogenesis; Cancer Research; Cancer therapies; Cell death; Cell growth; Chemotherapy; Homeostasis; Hypoxia; Immunotherapy; Internal Medicine; Kinases; Lung cancer; Medical prognosis; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolism; Metabolites; Metastasis; Molecular Medicine; Mortality; Nutrients; Oncology; Oxidative stress; Perspective; Precision medicine; Radiation therapy; Radiotherapy; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; Surgical Oncology; Tumors
• ISSN: 2730-6011; 2730-6011
• DOI: 10.1007/s12672-024-01544-6

In this perspective, we highlight and reflect on the current knowledge with respect to serine/glycine metabolism in cancer, therapeutic resistance, and precision medicine opportunities for therapeutic targeting and treatment follow-up. Cancer subtypes with high mortality rates include lung cancer and glioblastomas. In order to improve future therapeutic opportunities, patient stratification need to be performed to select patients that might benefit from adjuvant serine/glycine targeting compounds. In an effort to identify the group of patients for stratification purposes, we analyzed publicly available TCGA patient datasets to test associations between serine/glycine metabolism enzyme expression and important cancer drivers in lung cancer and glioblastoma. These patients presenting serine/glycine pathway overexpression might benefit from adjuvant sertraline treatment in the future.