Metabolic reprogramming is a central feature of transformed cells.
Cancer metabolism is now fully back in the focus of
cancer research, as the interactions between oncogenic signalling and cellular metabolic processes are uncovered. One aspect of metabolic reprogramming in
cancer is alterations in lipid metabolism. In contrast to most untransformed tissues, which satisfy their demand from dietary
lipids,
cancer cells frequently re-activate de novo lipogenesis. However, compounds targeting
fatty acid synthase (FASN), a multiprotein complex integral to lipogenesis, have so far shown limited efficacy in pre-clinical
cancer models and to date only one FASN inhibitor has entered clinical trials. Recently, a number of studies have suggested that enhanced production of
fatty acids in
cancer cells could also increases their dependence on the activity of desaturases, a class of
enzymes that insert double bonds into
acyl-CoA chains. Targeting desaturase activity could provide a window of opportunity to selectively interfere with the metabolic activity of
cancer cells. This review will summarise some key findings that implicate altered lipid metabolism in
cancer and investigate the molecular interactions between
lipid desaturation and
cancer cell survival.