Language
English
Publication Date
3-1-2026
Journal
Trends in Cancer
DOI
10.1016/j.trecan.2025.11.012
PMID
41535142
PMCID
PMC13250982
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
6-11-2026
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Author MSS
Abstract
The role of lipids in cancer progression has become a fervent area of exploration. The crosstalk of tumors with adipose tissue is a complex but well-regulated orchestration of signaling pathways, lipid transporters, and enzymes. They regulate fatty acid synthesis, their deposition into lipid droplets (LDs) as triglycerides, induction of lipolysis, shuttling lipids across cells, and their systemic trafficking, modification, and catabolism. For the latter, lipid oxidation has emerged as a metabolic process of particular clinical importance. Products of lipid processing can become secondary messengers, contribute to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, stimulate the production of antioxidants, and, if left unchecked, activate cell death pathways including ferroptosis. This review discusses recent updates in the field that are anticipated to have therapeutic implications.
Keywords
Humans, Neoplasms, Lipid Metabolism, Disease Progression, Reactive Oxygen Species, Ferroptosis, Animals, Signal Transduction, Lipolysis, Fatty Acids, Oxidation-Reduction, Adipose Tissue, Lipid Droplets, Antioxidants
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Rupert, Joseph; Cao, Pham Hong Anh; Frigo, Daniel E; et al., "Lipids Grease the Chain of Cancer Progression" (2026). The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine. 115.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/molecular_med/115