Abstract: Cancer cells frequently share biological characteristics and energy metabolic processes distinct from normal cells. The specific metabolic phenotype was originally known as the Warburg effect. Researchers later discovered that cancer cells prefer to synthesize fatty acid de novo . Moreover, key enzymes involved in fatty acid synthesis andβ - oxidation are overexpressed in tumor tissues, with low or without expression in normal tissues. Abnormal fatty acid metabolism is related to the survival and invasiveness of cancer cells, indicating that abnormal fatty acid metabolism provides the crucial components and energy sources of cancer cells. In recent years, the specific phenotype of abnormal fatty acid metabolism and the exploration of the role of this metabolic alteration in cancer biology and therapeutic strategies targeting the fatty acid metabolic pathways have become attractive focuses in cancer research. The role of active fatty acid metabolism in tumorigenesis and development, as well as the research progress in the development of the specific inhibitors, is reviewed in this paper.