Lactate: A Key Player in Cancer Stemness and Therapy Resistance

New research uncovers how lactate, traditionally seen as a metabolic byproduct, plays a pivotal role in maintaining cancer stemness and driving tumor plasticity. Using single-cell tracking in human tumor organoids, researchers mapped cellular transitions and metabolic shifts, revealing that lactate inhibits differentiation while inducing dedifferentiation into cancer stem cells (CSCs). This occurs through epigenetic modifications—specifically, increased histone acetylation—leading to MYC oncogene activation. The study highlights lactate's role in tumor resilience and suggests that targeting lactate metabolism and BRD4, a key mediator of MYC activation, could provide novel therapeutic strategies to prevent tumor relapse.