“Warburg Effect” and Mitochondrial Metabolism in Skin Cancer

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States, with an increasing annual rate. Defining the mechanism of skin cancer malignancy and progression is the first step towards skin cancer prevention and therapy. “Warburg Effect” describes the preference of glycolysis and lactate fermentation rather than oxidative phosphorylation for energy production in cancer cells, which also present in non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers. Mitochondrial metabolism is an important and necessary component in the functioning and maintenance of the organelle, and accumulating evidence suggests that dysfunction of mitochondrial metabolism plays a role in skin cancer. Recently, new progress has demonstrated the mechanisms of the mitochondrial metabolism-to-glycolysis switch in skin cancer development and how to target this metabolic switch for skin cancer prevention and therapy, which will be discussed in this review.