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Hepatocytes promote liver metastasis of pancreatic cancer by providing serine

Nature Medical/Healthcare AI Koelina Ganguly, Keisuke Yamamoto, Jason Rodencal, Joel Encarnacion-Rosado, Albert S. W. Sohn, Douglas E. Biancur, Elaine Y. Lin, Ruohong Wang, Carolina Alcantara Hirsch, Anthony Sorrentino, Elshaddai Z. White, Paul M. Grandgenett, Michael A. Hollingsworth, Miwako Kakiuchi, Richard Possemato, Dafna Bar-Sagi, Mitsuhiro Fujishiro, Alec C. Kimmelman 2026-09-23

TL;DR - A Nature study reports that liver-metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells unable to synthesize serine can induce hepatocytes to supply it, supporting tumour growth and survival. The finding highlights a metabolic interaction between metastatic cancer cells and the liver microenvironment.

The study focuses on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma metastases in the liver.
Serine-synthesis-deficient tumour cells reprogram hepatocytes to produce the amino acid.
Hepatocyte-derived serine promotes metastatic tumour growth and survival.
The provided summary does not specify the underlying signalling mechanism or therapeutic implications.

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