The potential role of reprogrammed glucose metabolism: an emerging actionable codependent target in thyroid cancer

Abstract

Although the incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing year by year, most patients, especially those with differentiated thyroid cancer, can usually be cured with surgery, radioactive iodine, and thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression. However, treatment options for patients with poorly differentiated thyroid cancers or radioiodine-refractory thyroid cancer have historically been limited. Altered energy metabolism is one of the hallmarks of cancer and a well-documented feature in thyroid cancer. In a hypoxic environment with extreme nutrient deficiencies resulting from uncontrolled growth, thyroid cancer cells utilize “metabolic reprogramming” to satisfy their energy demand and support malignant behaviors such as metastasis. This review summarizes past and recent advances in our understanding of the reprogramming of glucose metabolism in thyroid cancer cells, which we expect will yield new therapeutic approaches for patients with special pathological types of thyroid cancer by targeting reprogrammed glucose metabolism.

Melatonin: a modulator in metabolic rewiring in T-cell malignancies

“…In the first step of glycolysis, HKII phosphorylates glucose, which is essential for trapping glucose inside the cell and preparing it for further processing in the glycolytic pathway. In other words, HKII acts as a gatekeeper, ensuring that glucose is efficiently utilized for energy production within the cells ( 131 , 132 ).…”