Lipid biology of breast cancer

Alterations in lipid metabolism have been reported in many types of cancer. Lipids have been implicated in the regulation of proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, inflammation, autophagy, motility and membrane homeostasis. It is required that their biosynthesis is tightly regulated to ensure homeostasis and to prevent unnecessary energy expenditure. This review focuses on the emerging understanding of the role of lipids and lipogenic pathway regulation in breast cancer, including parallels drawn from the study of metabolic disease models, and suggestions on how these findings can potentially be exploited to promote gains in HER2/neu-positive breast cancer research. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Lipid Metabolism in Cancer.