Beyond metabolism: exploring the regulatory and therapeutic implications of lactate and lactylation in cancer-regulated cell death

Lactate, a key byproduct of glycolysis in tumor cells, has emerged as more than just a metabolic waste product. Increasing evidence reveals that lactate and its associated post-translational modification (PTM), lactylation, play multifaceted roles in regulating various forms of regulated cell death (RCD), thereby contributing to cancer proliferation, therapy resistance, and immune exclusion. Notably, evasion of RCD is a hallmark of cancer and targeting RCD may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. In this review, we focus on summarizing the dual and context-dependent roles of both lactate and lactylation in modulating distinct types of RCD, including apoptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and cuproptosis. Moreover, we further discuss how RCD processes impact lactate metabolism and highlight the therapeutic potential and current challenges of targeting the lactate-lactylation-RCD axis in cancer treatment.