Metabolic Regulation and Intervention Strategies of Tumor Infiltrating T Cells

T cells play critical roles in immune response and immune homeostasis. The function and state of tumor-infiltrating T cells are closely related to anti-tumor immunity. In the tumor microenvironment (TME), the anti-tumor effect of T cells is restricted by multiple factors, including the physical barrier of tumor microenvironment preventing T cell infiltration, consumption of large amount of glucose by the tumor cells to meet the needs of rapid proliferation and limiting the function of effector T cells, accumulation of the intermediate metabolites of inhibitory immune cells and tumor cells, and modification of the TME. Hypoxia, nutrient deficiency, acidification and massive accumulation of metabolites in TME affect the normal metabolism of T cells and impair their anti-tumor ability. This paper reviews the research on tumor-infiltrating T cell metabolism and the therapeutic strategies targeting tumor microenvironment metabolism, in the hope of providing some new insight for tumor immunotherapy.