Metabolism is essential for life, and its alteration is implicated in multiple human diseases. The transformation from a normal to a cancerous cell requires metabolic changes to fuel the high metabolic demands of cancer cells, including but not limited to cell proliferation and cell migration. In recent years, there have been a number of new discoveries connecting known aberrations in oncogenic and tumour suppressor pathways with metabolic alterations required to sustain cell proliferation and migration. However, an understanding of the selective advantage of these metabolic alterations is still lacking. Here, we review the literature on mathematical models of metabolism, with an emphasis on their contribution to the identification of the selective advantage of metabolic phenotypes that seem otherwise wasteful or accidental. We will show how the molecular hallmarks of cancer can be related to cell proliferation and tissue remodelling, the two major physiological requirements for the development of a multicellular structure. We will cover different areas such as genome-wide gene expression analysis, flux balance models, kinetic models, reaction diffusion models and models of the tumour microenvironment. We will also highlight current challenges and how their resolution will help to achieve a better understanding of cancer metabolism and the metabolic vulnerabilities of cancers.

中文翻译：

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癌症代谢的数学模型

新陈代谢对生命至关重要，它的改变与多种人类疾病有关。从正常细胞到癌细胞的转变需要代谢变化来满足癌细胞的高代谢需求，包括但不限于细胞增殖和细胞迁移。近年来，有许多新发现将致癌和肿瘤抑制途径中的已知异常与维持细胞增殖和迁移所需的代谢改变联系起来。然而，仍然缺乏对这些代谢改变的选择性优势的理解。在这里，我们回顾了有关代谢数学模型的文献，重点是它们对鉴定代谢表型的选择性优势的贡献，这些表型在其他方面似乎是浪费的或偶然的。我们将展示癌症的分子特征如何与细胞增殖和组织重塑相关，这是多细胞结构发育的两个主要生理要求。我们将涵盖不同的领域，例如全基因组基因表达分析、通量平衡模型、动力学模型、反应扩散模型和肿瘤微环境模型。我们还将重点介绍当前的挑战以及它们的解决将如何帮助更好地了解癌症代谢和癌症的代谢脆弱性。反应扩散模型和肿瘤微环境模型。我们还将重点介绍当前的挑战以及它们的解决将如何帮助更好地了解癌症代谢和癌症的代谢脆弱性。反应扩散模型和肿瘤微环境模型。我们还将重点介绍当前的挑战以及它们的解决将如何帮助更好地了解癌症代谢和癌症的代谢脆弱性。