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Updated: Apr 14, 2026

Exploring the Regulation of Lipid Droplet Catabolism through Lipophagy
Published on: January 31, 2025
Targeting fatty acid metabolism for cancer therapy
Lu Zhang1, Yuwen Yao1, Suling Liu1,2
1Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center & Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Key Laboratory of Breast Cancer in Shanghai, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
None:
As the main component of lipids, fatty acids are essential in supporting life activities regarding energy supply, cell composition, and signaling molecules. Enhancement of fatty acid (FA) synthesis, storage, and catabolism is observed in various cancer cells. In addition, it has become clear that tumor cells exhibit plasticity in fatty acid metabolism to facilitate aggression and treatment resistance. Here, we describe cellular fatty acid metabolism changes associated with tumor development and therapeutic resistance. Potential inhibitors of fatty acid metabolism are also discussed for tumor therapy. Therefore, exploring the targets of FA metabolism in cancer to improve the efficiency of cancer therapy is of great interest.
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