Lipid metabolism and resistance to anticancer treatment

Abstract

Metabolic reprogramming is crucial to respond to cancer cell requirements during tumor development. In the last decade, metabolic alterations have been shown to modulate cancer cells’ sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents including conventional and targeted therapies. Recently, it became apparent that changes in lipid metabolism represent important mediators of resistance to anticancer agents. In this review, we highlight changes in lipid metabolism associated with therapy resistance, their significance and how dysregulated lipid metabolism could be exploited to overcome anticancer drug resistance.