ABSTRACT
The curative effect of chemotherapy in malignant tumors has been unsatisfactory because of drug resistance and the toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs. Extensive studies on the metabolism of tumor cells have been undertaken to determine a novel se-lective antitumor drug. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated the close relation between the malignant behavior of tumor tissues and their specialized energy metabolism. Hyper-lipogenesis is one of the metabolic characteristics of the rapid proliferation of tu-mor cells. Stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase 1 (SCD1) is a critical enzyme in fatty acid synthesis because it catalyzes the conversion of saturated fatty acids into monounsaturated fatty acids. This enzyme is closely related to obesity, fatty liver disease, insulin resistance, and a series of metabolic syndromes. It is also involved in the occurrence and progression of cancer. Determining the function of SCD1 in malignant tumors would provide a new therapeutic target in chemotherapy.