Editorial: Immuno-metabolic interactions and cancer progression in the tumor microenvironment

Cancer metabolism underwent a conceptual revolution over the past decade. Research has long focused on aerobic glycolysis, but recently a more nuanced view is emerging. Tumors dynamically switch among different metabolic pathways, from oxidative phosphorylation to glutaminolysis and β-oxidation. Those metabolic alterations lead to increased growth and therapy resistance. Nevertheless, these alterations are not solely cell-autonomous. The tumor microenvironment (TME) acts as an active metabolic ecosystem, in which immune, stromal, and endothelial cells influence and respond to tumor metabolic demands. The cross-talk between immunity and metabolism, referred to as immunometabolism, determines how tumors evade immune surveillance or how immune activation reshapes cancer metabolism. This Research Topic in Frontiers in Immunology brings together five papers (three reviews and two original research articles) exploring these interconnections across diverse malignancies, from squamous and lymphoid cancers to lung and laryngeal carcinomas. These studies provide insight into how metabolism cues within the TME-sculpt immune function and influence cancer fate.