Metabolic reprogramming of immune cells: Shaping the tumor microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a typical inflammation‐induced cancer and displays a complex interaction between the tumor microenvironment and tumor development. Immune cells in the HCC microenvironment play both pro‐ and anti‐tumoral roles in HCC progression. An increasing number of findings indicate that metabolic reprogramming is essential for immune cell differentiation and function. In this review, we discuss the metabolic changes of different immune cells and correlate these findings to HCC progression.

Keywords

• hepatocellular carcinoma
• immune cells
• metabolic reprogramming
• tumor immunology
• tumor microenvironment