Cancer Biology

Blocking lipid production in healthy lung cells can reduce lung metastasis

Leuven, 17 March 2026 - Scientists from the VIB–KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology, in collaboration with the Francis Crick Institute, have discovered how cancer cells can exploit healthy lung cells to support metastatic tumor growth in the lungs. In two complementary studies published in Nature Cell Biology and Cancer Discovery, they show that tumors use lipids produced by lung cells as signals, and that decreasing the lipid production of lung cells can decrease metastasis. The findings point to new therapeutic strategies that target lung cell lipid production, rather than cancer cells themselves, which may also help refine patient selection for ongoing clinical trials targeting this pathway.

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