Long non-coding RNAs in cancer metabolism

Altered cellular metabolism is an emerging hallmark of cancer. Accumulating recent evidence links long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a still poorly understood class of non‐coding RNAs, to cancer metabolism. Here we review the emerging findings on the functions of lncRNAs in cancer metabolism, with particular emphasis on how lncRNAs regulate glucose and glutamine metabolism in cancer cells, discuss how lncRNAs regulate various aspects of cancer metabolism through their cross‐talk with other macromolecules, explore the mechanistic conceptual framework of lncRNAs in reprogramming metabolism in cancers, and highlight the challenges in this field. A more in‐depth understanding of lncRNAs in cancer metabolism may enable the development of novel and effective therapeutic strategies targeting cancer metabolism. Altered cellular metabolism is a hallmark of cancer. The metabolic network is regulated by a myriad of metabolic enzymes. In this “Recently in press” mini‐review, we discuss the emerging roles of long non‐coding RNAs, the type of non‐coding genes that are often described as the “dark matter” in our genome, in cancer metabolism.