Oncolytic viruses infect, replicate in, and kill cancer cells selectively without harming normal cells. The rapidly expanding clinical development of oncolytic virotherapy is an exciting interdisciplinary field that provides insights into virology, oncology, and immunotherapy. Recent years have seen greater focus on rational design of cancer-selective viruses together with strategies to exploit their immunostimulatory capabilities, ultimately to develop powerful oncolytic cancer vaccines. However, despite great interest in the field, many important experiments are still conducted under optimum conditions in vitro, with many nutrients present in excess and with cellular stress kept to a minimum. Whilst this provides a convenient platform for cell culture, it bears little relation to the typical conditions found within a tumour in vivo, where cells are often subject to a range of metabolic and environmental stresses. Viral infection and cancer will both lead to production of metabolites that are also not present in media in vitro. Understanding how oncolytic viruses interact with cells exposed to more representative metabolic conditions in vitro represents an under-explored area of study that could provide valuable insight into the intelligent design of superior oncolytic viruses and help bridge the gap between bench and bedside. This review summarises the major metabolic pathways altered in cancer cells, during viral infection and highlights possible targets for future studies.

溶瘤病毒选择性地感染、复制并杀死癌细胞，而不伤害正常细胞。溶瘤病毒疗法迅速扩大的临床发展是一个令人兴奋的跨学科领域，为病毒学、肿瘤学和免疫疗法提供了见解。近年来，人们更加关注癌症选择性病毒的合理设计以及利用其免疫刺激能力的策略，最终开发出强大的溶瘤癌症疫苗。然而，尽管人们对该领域非常感兴趣，但许多重要的实验仍然是在体外最佳条件下进行的，其中许多营养物质过量存在，并且细胞应激保持在最低限度。虽然这为细胞培养提供了一个方便的平台，但它与体内肿瘤内发现的典型条件关系不大，在体内肿瘤内细胞经常受到一系列代谢和环境压力。病毒感染和癌症都会导致产生体外培养基中不存在的代谢物。了解溶瘤病毒如何与暴露于更具代表性的体外代谢条件的细胞相互作用是一个尚未探索的研究领域，可以为高级溶瘤病毒的智能设计提供有价值的见解，并有助于弥合实验室和临床之间的差距。这篇综述总结了病毒感染期间癌细胞中改变的主要代谢途径，并强调了未来研究的可能目标。