Fig. 2
From: Non-invasive biomarkers for monitoring the immunotherapeutic response to cancer
Factors affecting T cell metabolism in tumor microenvironment (TME). Nutrient competition (glucose and glutamine), amino acid depletion (arginine and tryptophan), increased acidity due to high lactate production impairs TEFF's functioning. Also, these factors in the TME causes an increase in inhibitory cells such as Tregs, TMEM, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) to maintain an immunosuppressive TME