Significance of Lipid Metabolism Reprogramming in Tumor Microenvironment and Development of Novel Therapeutic Intervention

The metabolic reprogramming of cancer cell has recently gained heightened attention in the field of tumor metastasis. This metabolic reprogramming helps the cancer cells to meet increased energy and biosynthetic requirements. Beyond their structural role in membrane integrity, fatty aids are also crucial for the energy requirement of cancer cell which ultimately helps epithelial to mesenchymal transition and metastatic progression. There is urgent need for identifying the varied role of fatty acid metabolism in the tumor microenvironment (TME), that includes tumor cell, immune cells and stromal cells. Understanding how the tumor cells alter their lipid metabolism after their interaction with other cells in the TME can present a promising therapeutic strategy against cancer. This metabolic interaction between cancer cells and other cells of the TME (like immune cells and stromal cells) which supply fatty acids that helps in the formation of metastatic niche. In this review, we discussed in detail the role of exogenous fatty acid uptake and endogenous fatty acid synthesis in tumor cells and the mechanism through which cancer cells regulate lipid metabolism. Also, the involvement of immune and stromal cell in the metabolic reprogramming and the molecules or drugs that can affect the receptor or enzymes involved in lipid metabolism are identified. This review underscores the importance of further research focusing on targeting fatty acid metabolism to identify susceptibilities and enhance cancer therapy.