“… 46 The tumor’s malignancy is robustly supported by the rapid energy supply pathway of glycolysis, as well as enhanced energy supply pathways such as lipid metabolism and protein metabolism during tumor progression and invasion. 47 Additionally, HNSCC can uptake lactate secreted by cancer-CAFs and augment their own oxidative phosphorylation to promote tumorigenesis. 10 The crux of our study is that lactate-mediated collagen deposition promotes the CSC-like phenotype, and our current experimental results are robust enough to support this conclusion.…”