CPT1A and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A), the rate-limiting enzyme of FAO, mediates fatty acid transport into mitochondria for β-oxidation via acylcarnitines, is frequently overexpressed in ESCC and correlates with advanced clinical stage, metastasis, and poor prognosis (Tian et al., 2022; Nandi et al., 2024; Zhang et al., 2025).