Cancer is characterized by metabolic reprogramming, and different cancer types can display very different metabolic phenotypes based on metabolic plasticity, tissue origin, and tumor microenvironment, highlighting the existence of tumor-specific bioenergetic circuits [
1‐
4]. Warburg first described the metabolic behavior of some cancers that showed increased lactic fermentation compared to traditional mitochondrial respiration, thus allowing ATP production and biomass required for tumor growth [
5,
6] Altered metabolic processes contribute to the development of cancer, which, as a system with a high rate of proliferation, needs a large amount of fuel to maintain the activity of its biological processes [
7,
8]. ATP, the energy currency and metabolic byproduct, is required for a variety of cellular processes, including DNA replication and the proper function of the cytoskeletal system [
9,
10]. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and prostate cancer (PCa) are among the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide [
11‐
13]. In 2020, there were approximately 1.41 million new PCa cases at global level, according to GLOBOCAN [
14] while PDAC is one of the cancer types with the highest lethality and is estimated to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths by 2030 [
15‐
17]. Interestingly, evidence of altered energetic pathways is reported for these two tumors. In PDAC, KRAS oncogenic signaling and inactivation of tumor suppressors are directly related to altered glycolysis, recognized as the main metabolic alteration in pancreatic cancer [
18‐
21]. In contrast, prostate tumors seem to favor increased oxidative phosphorylation, and fatty acid (FA) production appears to be linked to prostate carcinogenesis [
22‐
24]. In terms of proliferation and survival, de novo FA biogenesis provides tumors with a competitive advantage [
25]. FA synthase (FASN), a crucial enzyme in lipogenesis, is responsible for catalyzing the synthesis of the long-chain saturated FA palmitate, used as source for ATP production [
26,
27]. In recent years, studies investigating antitumor strategies targeting metabolism regulation have increased, and FASN inhibition has shown promise in targeted cancer therapy [
28‐
30]. However, little is known about cancer cell sensitivity to FASN inhibitors, thus creating a bottleneck for their therapeutic application. Antimetabolic strategies are currently under investigation in PDAC and PCa, and clinical trials are evaluating how the disruption of lipid signaling may contribute to an improvement in patient outcomes [
24,
31].
Here, we investigated differences in FASN expression in PDAC and PCa using a multi-omic approach. We also explored the effect of FASN inhibition on proliferation and mitochondrial respiration in these two cancer settings. Our results show a different role for FASN in the two tumor types, suggesting a different bioenergetic evolution. FASN expression differs significantly in PDAC and PCa, with a worse prognosis associated with PCa and high expression. FASN protein–protein interaction analysis indicated that its interactors are mainly involved in mitochondrial respiration. In line with this finding, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) on RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) TCGA data identified mitochondrial respiration- and lipid-related genes as differentially expressed and particularly enriched in PCa. This was corroborated by the fact that the two tumors responded differently to FASN inhibition in terms of proliferative potential and mitochondrial respiration, suggesting that FASN inhibition might represent a more effective therapeutic strategy in PCa.