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Updated: Sep 7, 2025

Exploring the Regulation of Lipid Droplet Catabolism through Lipophagy
Published on: January 31, 2025
New dawn for cancer cell death: Emerging role of lipid metabolism
Chanjuan Zhang1, Neng Zhu2, Hongfang Li3
1Laboratory of Stem Cell Regulation with Chinese Medicine and Its Application, School of Pharmacy, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan, 410208, PR China; TCM and Ethnomedicine Innovation & Development International Laboratory, Innovative Materia Medica Research Institute, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan, 410208, PR China.
Background:
Resistance to cell death, a protective mechanism for removing damaged cells, is a "Hallmark of Cancer" that is essential for cancer progression. Increasing attention to cancer lipid metabolism has revealed a number of pathways that induce cancer cell death.
Scope Of Review:
We summarize emerging concepts regarding lipid metabolic reprogramming in cancer that is mainly involved in lipid uptake and trafficking, de novo synthesis and esterification, fatty acid synthesis and oxidation, lipogenesis, and lipolysis. During carcinogenesis and progression, continuous metabolic adaptations are co-opted by cancer cells, to maximize their fitness to the ever-changing environmental. Lipid metabolism and the epigenetic modifying enzymes interact in a bidirectional manner which involves regulating cancer cell death. Moreover, lipids in the tumor microenvironment play unique roles beyond metabolic requirements that promote cancer progression. Finally, we posit potential therapeutic strategies targeting lipid metabolism to improve treatment efficacy and survival of cancer patient.
Major Conclusions:
The profound comprehension of past findings, current trends, and future research directions on resistance to cancer cell death will facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies targeting the lipid metabolism.
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