Fat molecules drive colon cancer spread to liver

MIT researchers discovered that ceramides, fatty molecules produced by high-fat diets, activate YAP1 protein in cancer cells, hijacking the body's regenerative program to drive metastasis. Blocking ceramide production dramatically reduced liver metastases in mice. Patients with higher BMI showed stronger YAP1 expression and lower survival rates.

There isn't a defining mutational signature that separates metastatic cells from the primary tumor, which points to metastasis being driven largely by changes in which genes are switched on and off, rather than by new mutations.

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