Metabolic reprogramming of immune cells and metabolic intervention in cutaneous tumors
1 Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
2 National Engineering Research Center of Personalized Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
3 Department of Furong Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, China
4 Hunan Key Laboratory of Skin Cancer and Psoriasis, Human Engineering Research Center of Skin Health and Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
5 Department of National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
  • DOI
    10.55092/acr20260006
  • Copyright
    Copyright2026 by the authors. Published by ELSP.
Abstract

Immunotherapy has achieved notable advancements in the treatment of cutaneous malignancies. However, challenges such as low response rates and frequent drug resistance remain. The metabolic characteristics of immune cells are closely linked to their fate, activation, and function, exhibiting remarkable plasticity that enables metabolic networks to finely regulate immune cell responses to external stimuli. Consequently, targeting metabolic networks to modulate immune cell phenotypes and augment antitumor immunity has emerged as a pivotal avenue for clinical translation. This article systematically elucidates the functional roles of glucose, lipid, and amino acid metabolism reprogramming in immune cells. It summarizes ongoing clinical trials of metabolic-immunotherapy for treating melanoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), and basal cell carcinoma (BCC), while discussing unresolved challenges in metabolic therapy’s clinical translation. This provides theoretical support and research directions for novel metabolic therapeutic strategies.

Keywords

metabolic reprogrammingtumor; microenvironment; cancer therapy; cutaneous tumors

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