Metabolic Symbiosis and Immunomodulation: How Tumor Cell-Derived Lactate May Disturb Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is composed by cellular as well as non-cellular components. Examples include: (i) bone marrow-derived inflammatory cells, (ii) fibroblasts, (iii) blood vessels, (iv) immune cells and (v) extracellular matrix (ECM) components. In most cases, this combination of components may result in an inhospitable environment, in which a significant retrenchment in nutrients and oxygen considerably disturbs cell metabolism....