SCD and cancer: Under such conditions, the availability of FAs, among several other nutrients, is restricted, making the cancer cells more reliant on endogenous synthesis for FA acquisition.12,60 As discussed above, the proliferation of various cancer cell types requires SCD1-mediated desaturation of endogenously synthesised SFAs into MUFAs, and SCD1, in turn, requires oxygen, so that, under oxygen-deprived conditions, cancer cells rely on an exogenous supply of MUFAs.