Proliferation requires that cells accumulate sufficient biomass to grow and divide. Cancer cells within tumors must acquire a variety of nutrients, and tumor growth slows or stops if necessary metabolites are not obtained in sufficient quantities. Importantly, the metabolic demands of cancer cells can be different from those of untransformed cells, and nutrient accessibility in tumors is different than in many normal tissues. Thus, cancer cell survival and proliferation may be limited by different metabolic factors than those that are necessary to maintain noncancerous cells. Understanding the variables that dictate which nutrients are critical to sustain tumor growth may identify vulnerabilities that could be used to treat cancer. This review examines the various cell-autonomous, local, and systemic factors that determine which nutrients are limiting for tumor growth.

增殖需要细胞积累足够的生物量来生长和分裂。肿瘤内的癌细胞必须获取各种营养物质，如果不能获得足够数量的必需代谢物，肿瘤生长就会减慢或停止。重要的是，癌细胞的代谢需求可能与未转化细胞的代谢需求不同，肿瘤中的营养可及性也与许多正常组织不同。因此，癌细胞的存活和增殖可能受到与维持非癌细胞所必需的代谢因素不同的代谢因素的限制。了解决定哪些营养素对维持肿瘤生长至关重要的变量可能会发现可用于治疗癌症的脆弱性。这篇综述检查了各种细胞自主的、局部的和全身的因素，这些因素决定了哪些营养物质限制了肿瘤的生长。