Cancer’s Sneaky Survival Strategy: How it Pathologically Modifies the Liver and Raises the Prospect of Fresh Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Cancers have been found to release molecules into the bloodstream that can cause the liver to accumulate fat, become inflamed and disrupt its normal detoxification processes, according to a study by researchers at the Weill Cornell Medicine. The findings, published in the journal Nature, could lead to new diagnostics and treatments for reversing the process. Extracellular vesicles and particles containing fatty acids secreted by tumours that are developing outside the liver have the ability to remotely reprogram the liver, which bears resemblance to the condition of fatty liver disease. Liver disease, which reduces the capacity to tolerate chemotherapy treatments, can have a significant impact on patients with some types of cancer.