Cancer cells often increase their uptake of acetate for acetyl-coenzyme A biosynthesis, a mechanism that facilitates cancer metastasis. We found that, in hepatocellular carcinoma, cancer cells induce acetate secretion from tumour-associated macrophages, driven by a cell–cell metabolic interaction involving lactate, the lipid peroxidation–aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 pathway and acetate.
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References
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This is a summary of: Shen, L. et al. Tumour-associated macrophages serve as an acetate reservoir to drive hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis. Nat. Metab. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-025-01393-9 (2025).
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A lactate–acetate interaction between macrophages and cancer cells drives metastasis. Nat Metab 7, 2195–2196 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-025-01398-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-025-01398-4
