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Review
. 2019 Jan 26;18(1):29.
doi: 10.1186/s12944-019-0977-8.

Changes in lipids composition and metabolism in colorectal cancer: a review

Alicja Pakiet  1   2 , Jarosław Kobiela  3 , Piotr Stepnowski  1 , Tomasz Sledzinski  4 , Adriana Mika  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Changes in lipids composition and metabolism in colorectal cancer: a review

Alicja Pakiet et al. Lipids Health Dis. .

Abstract

Altered metabolism of lipids is currently considered a hallmark characteristic of many malignancies, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Lipids are a large group of metabolites that differ in terms of their fatty acid composition. This review summarizes recent evidence, documenting many alterations in the content and composition of fatty acids, polar lipids, oxylipins and triacylglycerols in CRC patients' sera, tumor tissues and adipose tissue. Some of altered lipid molecules may be potential biomarkers of CRC risk, development and progression. Owing to a significant role of many lipids in cancer cell metabolism, some of lipid metabolism pathways may also constitute specific targets for anti-CRC therapy.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Fatty acids; Lipidomics; Metabolism; Oxylipins; Polar lipids.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ information

AP, AM and PS are chemists

JK is a surgeon

TS is a biochemist

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overview of endogenous metabolism of fatty acids at the cellular level. Modified from Currie et al. (2013) [24]. DG: diacylglycerol, FA: fatty acid, LPA: lysophosphatidic acid, MAG: monoacylglycerol, MUFA-CoA: monounsaturated fatty acid-coenzyme A, TG: triacylglycerol, ACC: acetyl-CoA carboxylase, ACS: acetyl-CoA synthetase, ACLY: ATP citrate lyase, FASN: fatty acid synthase, MAGL: monoacylglycerol lipase, MCD: malonyl-CoA decarboxylase, AGPAT: 1-acylglycerol-3-phosphate-O-acyltransferase, ATGL: adipose triglyceride lipase, CPT1: carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, DGAT: diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase, GPAT: glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase, HSL: hormone sensitive lipase, PAP: phosphatidate phosphatase
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Synthesis of eicosanoids in colorectal cancer cells. Green arrows indicate direction of change of the level of compounds in serum of CRC patients [153]. COX: cyclooxygenase, CYP450: cytochrome P450, DiHETrE: dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid, EpETrE: epoxyeicosatrienoic acid, HETE: hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, HpETE: hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid, LOX: lipoxygenase, LT: leukotriene, LX: lipoxin, PG: prostaglandin, TX: thromboxane
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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