Cancer is a common and complex disease with high incidence and mortality rates, which causes a severe public health problem worldwide. As one of the standard therapeutic approaches for
cancer therapy, the prognosis and outcome of
chemotherapy are still far from satisfactory due to the severe side effects and increasingly acquired resistance. The development of novel and effective treatment strategies to overcome chemoresistance is urgent for
cancer therapy. Metabolic reprogramming is one of the hallmarks of
cancer.
Cancer cells could rewire metabolic pathways to facilitate
tumorigenesis,
tumor progression, and
metastasis, as well as chemoresistance. The metabolic reprogramming may serve as a promising therapeutic strategy and rekindle the research enthusiasm for overcoming chemoresistance. This review focuses on emerging mechanisms underlying rewired metabolic pathways for
cancer chemoresistance in terms of
glucose and energy,
lipid,
amino acid, and
nucleotide metabolisms, as well as other related metabolisms. In particular, we highlight the potential of
traditional Chinese medicine as a chemosensitizer for
cancer chemotherapy from the metabolic perspective. The perspectives of metabolic targeting to chemoresistance are also discussed. In conclusion, the elucidation of the underlying metabolic reprogramming mechanisms by which
cancer cells develop chemoresistance and traditional Chinese medicines resensitize
chemotherapy would provide us a new insight into developing promising
therapeutics and scientific evidence for clinical use of
traditional Chinese medicine as a chemosensitizer for
cancer therapy.