Lipidome in colorectal cancer

// Guifang Yan 1,* , Liqi Li 2,* , Bo Zhu 1 and Yongsheng Li 1,3 1 Institute of Cancer, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China 2 Department of General Surgery, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China 3 Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury, Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Bo Zhu, email: // Yongsheng Li, email: // Keywords : lipidome, metabolism, colorectal cancer, fatty acid, cholesterol Received : December 07, 2015 Accepted : February 25, 2016 Published : March 07, 2016 Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Understanding its pathophysiology is essential for developing efficient strategies to treat this disease. Lipidome, the sum of total lipids, related enzymes, receptors and signaling pathways, plays crucial roles in multiple cellular processes, such as metabolism, energy storage, proliferation and apoptosis. Dysregulation of lipid metabolism and function contributes to the development of CRC, and can be used towards the evaluation of prognosis. The strategies targeting lipidome have been applied in clinical trails and showed promising results. Here we discuss recent advances in abnormal lipid metabolism in CRC, the mechanisms by which the lipidome regulates tumorigenesis and tumor progression, and suggest potential therapeutic targets for clinical trials.