Additionally to the increased citrate in the two hepatomas and the reduced lipid synthetic activity regarding decreasing fatty acid synthase (FASN) in parallel, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) protein expression may indicate a temporary decrease in fatty acid formation, while the increase in malate in HLE and LX2 cells may indicate increased OXPHOS activity in these cells. Here, FASN is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.