Tumors change their metabolism to spread more effectively

Cancer is a beast with many heads, but it will be history one discovery at a time!

"Cancer cells can disrupt a metabolic pathway that breaks down fats and proteins to boost the levels of a byproduct called methylmalonic acid, thereby driving metastasis ...

The findings open a new avenue for understanding how tumors spread to other tissues via metastasis, and hints at novel ways to block the spread of cancer by targeting the process. ...
that metastatic tumors suppress the activity of a key enzyme in propionate metabolism, the process by which cells digest certain fatty acids and protein components. Suppressing the enzyme increases production of methylmalonic acid (MMA). That, in turn, causes the cells to become more aggressive and invasive. ...
but to go from the primary tumor to the metastatic tumor, that transition has not been studied very extensively ..."

From the abstract:

"The alteration of metabolic pathways is a critical strategy for cancer cells to attain the traits necessary for metastasis in disease progression. Here, we find that dysregulation of propionate metabolism produces a pro-aggressive signature in breast and lung cancer cells, increasing their metastatic potential. This occurs through the downregulation of methylmalonyl coenzyme A epimerase (MCEE), mediated by an extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2-driven transcription factor Sp1/early growth response protein 1 transcriptional switch driven by metastatic signalling at its promoter level. ... Altogether, we present a previously uncharacterized dysregulation of propionate metabolism as an important contributor to cancer and a valuable potential target in the therapeutic treatment of metastatic carcinomas."

Tumors change their metabolism to spread more effectively | Cornell Chronicle

Altered propionate metabolism contributes to tumour progression and aggressiveness (no public access)