Glutamine Metabolism and Its Role in the Therapy of Cancer

Abstract

Inhibition of selected metabolic pathways is a hot topic in current cancer therapy. This is caused by the fact that metabolic transformation across different types of cancer cells is highly similar and, on the other hand, significantly different from the non-cancer cells. In this regard, glutamine is especially interesting because it serves not only as a donor of carbon skeletons and amino groups for the cell anabolism but also as a substrate involved in the energetic metabolism, redox homeostasis, and antioxidant protection. Therapeutic aiming at the glutamine metabolism offers a significant opportunity to improve the prognosis of cancer patients.