Alterations in lipid metabolism and blood profile in gynecological cancers - potential strategies in diagnosis and treatment

Sep 22, 2026

Uploaded by Miles

Gynecological cancers, particularly endometrial, cervical, and ovarian cancers, cause substantial disease burden due to rising incidence and limited outcomes in advanced stages. This review explains how reprogramming of lipid metabolism contributes to cancer development and progression, emphasizing changes in serum/plasma lipid profiles and membrane composition, dysregulated fatty-acid uptake and β-oxidation, and increased lipogenic enzyme activity in tumor tissues and cell lines. It further evaluates lipid alterations as candidate diagnostic and therapeutic strategies while noting the need for additional studies to clarify links to clinical practice.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Lipid metabolism axes in cancer

Lipid alterations as biomarkers

Analytical approaches and study limitations

Therapeutic strategies targeting metabolism

TYPE Review PUBLISHED 16 February 2026 DOI 10.3389/fphys.2026.1741759 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Anna Maria Giudetti, University of Salento, Italy REVIEWED BY Daniele Vergara, University of Salento, Italy Vivek S. Peche, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, United States *CORRESPONDENCE Tomasz Sledzinski, [tsledz@gumed.edu.pl](tsledz@gumed.edu.pl) RECEIVED 07 November 2025 REVISED 29 December 2025 ACCEPTED 02 January 2026 PUBLISHED 16 February 2026 CITATION Razghonova Y, Abacjew-Chmylko A, Czapiewska M, Wydra D, Swierczynski J, Mika A and Sledzinski T (2026) Alterations in lipid metabolism and blood profile in gynecological cancers – potential strategies in diagnosis and treatment. Front. Physiol. 17:1741759. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2026.1741759 COPYRIGHT © 2026 Razghonova, Abacjew-Chmylko, Czapiewska, Wydra, Swierczynski, Mika and Sledzinski. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Alterations in lipid metabolism and blood profile in gynecological cancers – potential strategies in diagnosis and treatment Yelyzaveta Razghonova 1, Anna Abacjew-Chmylko 2, Monika Czapiewska 1, Dariusz Wydra 2, Julian Swierczynski 3, Adriana Mika 1,4 and Tomasz Sledzinski 1* 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland, 2 Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Neonatology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland, 3 Institue of Nursing and Medical Rescue, State University of Applied Sciences in Koszalin, Koszalin, Poland, 4 Department of Environmental Analytics, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland Gynecological cancers (GCs), especially endometrial, cervical and ovarian cancers, represent a major health burden due to their increasing incidence and poor treatment outcomes, particularly in advanced stages. Numerous papers suggest that reprogramming of lipid metabolism plays an important role in the development and progression of GCs. In this review, we discuss the alterationsin lipid metabolism, focusing on a) serum/plasma lipid profiles and changes in membrane lipid composition in GCs patients, b) dysregulation of fatty acid uptake and β-oxidation by GCs cells, and c) upregulation of lipogenic enzymes in cancer tissue of GCs patients and GCs cells lines. It appears that lipid alterationsin the development and progression of GCs are very complex and cancer type specific. This is due to the complexity of a) the structure and properties of lipids, b) the variability between different human cancer types, and c) the need for a comprehensive set of clinical data. Moreover, the review highlights alterations of lipid metabolism as potential diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of GC patients. Further studies are still needed to draw clear conclusions about the relationship between abnormalities in lipid metabolism and development of GCs and to bridge basic research and practice. KEYWORDS cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, fatty acids, lipogenic enzymes, ovarian cancer 1 Introduction In 2022, more than 1.5 million women worldwide were diagnosed with gynecological cancers (GCs) (Worldwide cancer data, 2024; Sung et al., 2021), and GCs accounted for 15.2% of all cancers diagnosed in women in that year (Worldwide cancer data, 2024) . The most common GCs include malignancies of the endometrium, cervix and ovaries (Worldwide cancer data, 2024) and in this review we will focus primarily on the lipid metabolism of these cancers (Worldwide cancer data, 2024) . Lipids not only constitute structural el

FAQs

Which gynecological cancers are emphasized in this review?

The review focuses on endometrial, cervical, and ovarian cancers as major forms of gynecological cancers.

What lipid metabolism changes are discussed for cancer development and progression?

It highlights altered serum/plasma lipid profiles and membrane lipid composition, dysregulated fatty-acid uptake and β-oxidation, and upregulation of lipogenic enzymes in tumors and cell lines.

How are lipid alterations proposed to support diagnosis and treatment?

The review describes lipid alterations as potential noninvasive biomarkers and as possible diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, while stressing that further studies are needed for clear conclusions.

Sep 22, 2026

Uploaded by Miles