Seminars in cancer biologySep 30, 2026

RNA changes and metabolism in cancer: how they interact and what this means for treatment

mRNA Technology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Oct 1, 2026

Abstract

RNA modifications are crucial regulatory factors in cancer progression, influencing metabolic pathways.

Modifications like N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and pseudouridine affect mRNA stability and translation efficiency.
These RNA modifications may fine-tune the expression of enzymes and transporters involved in metabolism.
Different RNA marks can interact in complex ways, exhibiting synergistic or antagonistic relationships.
There is a potential for tumor-type-specific networks formed by these modifications in cancer metabolism.
Challenges remain in detecting multiple modifications and understanding their functional integration.

Simplified

RNA modifications, particularly in the realm of epitranscriptomics, have emerged as crucial regulatory factors in cancer progression, influencing cancer cell behavior by reprogramming metabolic pathways. These modifications, such as N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A), 5-methylcytosine (m⁵C), N¹-methyladenosine (m¹A), N⁷-methylguanosine (m⁷G), N⁴-acetylcytidine (ac⁴C) and pseudouridine (Ψ), modulate mRNA stability, splicing, translation efficiency, and non-coding RNA function, thereby fine-tuning the expression of metabolic enzymes and transporters. Importantly, these marks converge on shared metabolic enzymes, engage common effector proteins, and exhibit synergistic, antagonistic or hierarchical relationships that collectively shape the metabolic landscape of tumors. This review synthesizes current knowledge on how RNA modifications coordinate glucose, lipid, glutamine and nucleotide metabolism, with emphasis on cross-talk and functional integration among different marks. We further discuss tumor-type-specific wiring of these networks, the challenges of multi-modification detection, and the therapeutic potential of targeting the epitranscriptomic-metabolic axis in precision oncology.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View Full Text ↗

RNA changes and metabolism in cancer: how they interact and what this means for treatment

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the mrna technology brief