“Observations of metastasising cells revealed something intriguing—a high level of something called methylmalonic acid (MMA), a metabolic byproduct that appears to accumulate as we get older.”

“So how does MMA induce these changes in cancer cells? The key seems to be in a sort of reprogramming that “switches on” a gene called SOX4.

Prior research has shown SOX4 encourages cancer cells to become more aggressive and prone to metastasis.

To test whether it was indeed SOX4 that was altering the qualities of the cancer cells, the team blocked expression of the gene, and found that MMA no longer appeared to have the same effect.

Blocking SOX4 also stopped the process by which the cancer cells were able to resist two cancer treatments.”

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As our bodies convert food into energy, they produce debris that accumulates as we age. New research shows that one of these metabolic throwaways plays a potentially deadly role in the development of cancer.

The finding adds to a body of knowledge about the ways in which the aging process accelerates our chances of developing deadly cancers, but also offers potential avenues for blocking metastasising tumors.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, grew from work on metastasis, the process by which cancer cells detach from an initial tumor and former new tumors elsewhere in the body.