Title:Role of Aberrant Lipid Metabolism of Cancer Stem Cells in Cancer Progression
Volume: 21
Issue: 8
Author(s): Juan Zhou, Jing Zhao and Chunxia Su*
Affiliation:
- Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital & Thoracic Cancer Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai,China
Keywords:
Cancer stem cells (CSCs), lipid metabolism, cancer progression, tumor microenvironment, dysregulation of lipid
metabolism, energy homeostasis.
Abstract: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a small population of cancer cells that are able to
self-renew and initiate tumors, which undergo epigenetic, epithelial-mesenchymal, immunological,
and metabolic reprogramming to adapt to the tumor microenvironment as well as survive host defense
or therapeutic insults. The metabolic reprogramming that accompanies cancer onset is known
to be critical for the disease pathogenesis. A coordinated dysregulation of lipid metabolism is observed
in nearly all cancer types. In addition to fulfilling the basic requirements of structural lipids
for membrane synthesis, lipids function importantly as signaling molecules and contribute to energy
homeostasis. In this review, we summarize the current progress in the attractive research field
of aberrant lipid metabolism regarding CSCs in cancer progression, which provides insights into
therapeutic agents targeting CSCs based upon their modulation of lipid metabolism.