Abstract: Acyl-CoA synthetase long chain family (ACSLs) catalyzes the connection of CoA with 12-20 long chain fatty acids and participates in lipid synthesis and metabolism. ACSL5 is a subtype of ACSLs that is both located on mitochondria and involved in intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis, and is expressed in a variety of tissues. Studies on different cancer types have reported that ACSL5 expression in cancer patients is significantly different from that in healthy individuals, and it has been proved that high expression level of ACSL5 has a positive effect on the prognosis of patients with lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer and ovarian cancer. This paper aims to review on the advances in the effect of ACSL5-meidated lipid metabolism on cancer, which may provide a new strategy for cancer therapy via targeting the lipid metabolism enzymes.

Key words: ACSL5, fatty acids, lipid metabolism, cancer, prognosis