Scientists identify fructose as a surprise driver of cancer spread
Researchers at The Wistar Institute have discovered that fructose acts as a signaling molecule that helps chemotherapy-surviving ovarian cancer cells promote tumor spread. This finding highlights a previously unknown mechanism by which cancer cells communicate to facilitate metastasis.
Why it matters
Understanding how cancer cells survive and signal for growth could lead to new therapeutic strategies to prevent cancer recurrence and metastasis.
edited by Sadie Harley , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source (On Right) Dr. Katherine Aird with members of her lab. Credit: The Wistar Institute A new study from The Wistar Institute has uncovered an unexpected link between fructose—a common dietary sugar—and the spread of an aggressive form of ovarian cancer. Published in Nature Aging , the study found that cancer cells not killed by chemotherapy send signals to neighboring tumor cells, helping them become more capable of spreading.
The researchers identified fructose as a key messenger in this process, revealing a previously unrecognized way that treatment-surviving cancer cells may promote the spread of cancer.
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