Folate One-carbon Malnutrition as the Metabostemness Risk Factor of Malignancy Tumor Development and the Prognostic Predictor of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for more than two-thirds of lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Taiwan. The overall prognosis of NSCLC is poor with low 5-year survival rates. Recent advances suggest that malignancy NSCLC cancers are the cancer stem cell (CSC) diseases. The stemness potentials of CSC with epithelial-mesenchymal transdifferentiation ensure their invasion and disseminate to metastsis organs. The self-renewal property of CSC mediates intrinsic drug resistance to cytotoxicity therapy and promoted aggressive relapse tumour. Metabolic reprogramming on bioenergetics of malignant cancer cells has been proposed as the key mediator in the stemness CSC development. Malignancy cells uptake glucose for fermented glycolysis to produce lactate which release resulted in acidified microenvironment to trigger the mTOR and sonic hedgehog metabolic stress signaling in supporting CSC stemness potentials. The metabostemness of cancer cells is the new-dimensional hallmark of malignancy tumour, which may serve as the diagnostic markers for the early detection of malignancy cancers. Folate-mediated one carbon metabolism coordinates glucose into amino acid metabolism to tailor the fuel metabolites in supporting macromolecule synthesis and to sustain the bioenergetics requirement. Acting as the metabolic stressor, low folate intake is associated with increased risks of lung cancers. Folate and one-carbon nutrient status of NSCLC patients in Taiwan, however, has not been assessed. The role of low folate metabolic stress (LFMS) in metabostemness marker and metastasis potentials of malignancy NSCLC is unexplored. The causal effect and the working mechanisms by which LFMS promoted NSCLC malignancy remain elusive.