Role of mitochondrial alterations in human cancer progression and cancer immunity

Dysregulating cellular metabolism is one of the emerging cancer hallmarks. Mitochondria are essential organelles responsible for numerous physiologic processes, such as energy production, cellular metabolism, apoptosis, and calcium and redox homeostasis. Although the “Warburg effect,” in which cancer cells prefer aerobic glycolysis even under normal oxygen circumstances, was proposed a century ago, how mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to cancer progression is still unclear. This review discusses recent progress in the alterations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and mitochondrial dynamics in cancer malignant progression. Moreover, we integrate the possible regulatory mechanism of mitochondrial dysfunction–mediated mitochondrial retrograde signaling pathways, including mitochondrion-derived molecules (reactive oxygen species, calcium, oncometabolites, and mtDNA) and mitochondrial stress response pathways (mitochondrial unfolded protein response and integrated stress response) in cancer progression and provide the possible therapeutic targets. Furthermore, we discuss recent findings on the role of mitochondria in the immune regulatory function of immune cells and reveal the impact of the tumor microenvironment and metabolism remodeling on cancer immunity. Targeting the mitochondria and metabolism might improve cancer immunotherapy. These findings suggest that targeting mitochondrial retrograde signaling in cancer malignancy and modulating metabolism and mitochondria in cancer immunity might be promising treatment strategies for cancer patients and provide precise and personalized medicine against cancer.