Integrated Transcriptomic Analysis Identifies ENO3 as a Candidate Lactate Metabolism-Associated Biomarker in Colorectal Cancer Metastasis

Background and objectives: Metastasis is the primary cause of mortality in colorectal cancer (CRC), a leading global malignancy. Although metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer, the stage-associated transcriptional features of metabolic pathways during CRC progression remain incompletely understood. This study aimed to characterize transcriptionally inferred metabolic heterogeneity during CRC progression and identify candidate molecular factors associated with metastasis.