Cancer Foraging Ecology: Diet Choice, Patch Use, and Habitat Selection of Cancer Cells

partially answered questions include: Do cancer cells’ uptake of nutrients conform to theory? What are the supply and total mass
of resources within tumors? Can cancer cell foraging strategies provide indicators for tumor dynamics and therapies? We
advocate for a new research subdiscipline of cancer foraging ecology.
Recent Findings Foraging ecology studies feeding behaviors of organisms as adaptations. Virtually all of life exhibits adaptations
relating to diet, patch use, and habitat selection. Cancer cells likely exhibit selective nutrient uptake (diet), local depletion of
resources (patch use), and motility (habitat selection). In fact, the evolution of adaptive feeding strategies by cancer cells may be
an additional hallmark of cancer. In aggregate, the feeding behaviors of cancer cells can be devastating—acidosis, hypoxia,
cachexia, necrosis, tissue invasion, and metastasis. While these are well known, little is known regarding the nutrient uptake
strategies of individual cancer cells. Foraging theory provides a strong theoretical basis for anticipating what cancer cells might
do and how research on cancer foraging ecology—with impact on metastasis research and therapeutic intervention—should
proceed.
Summary Normal cells, as “servants” to the whole organism, should not conform to the principles of optimal foraging theory.
Cancer cells in response to fluctuating resource supplies, nutrient limitations, and hazards should evolve resource acquisition
strategies that are more optimal-foraging-like. Two areas of research make cancer foraging ecology a particularly propitious
emerging field. From behavioral and evolutionary ecology, there is a well-developed body of theory suggesting how organisms,
including cancer cells, should forage. From cancer cell metabolomics there is a large body of knowledge regarding how cancer
cells process and utilize different nutrients as fuel, material, buffers and messenger molecules. We suggest the time is ripe for
conjoining foraging ecology with cancer cell metabolomics.