Age-induced methylmalonic acid accumulation promotes tumor progression

From age 65 onwards, the risk of cancer incidence and associated mortality is substantially higher(1–6). Nonetheless, our understanding of the complex relationship between age and cancer is still in its infancy(2,3,7,8). For decades, this link has largely been attributed to increased exposure time to mutagens in older individuals. However, this view does not account for the well-established role of diet, exercise and small molecules that target the pace of metabolic aging(9–12). Here, we show that metabolic alterations that occur with age can render a systemic environment favorable to progression and aggressiveness of tumors. Specifically, we show that methylmalonic acid (MMA), a by-product of propionate metabolism, is significantly up-regulated in the serum of older people, and functions as a mediator of tumor progression. We traced this to MMA’s ability to induce SOX4 and consequently eliciting a transcriptional reprogramming that can endow cancer cells with aggressive properties. Thus, accumulation of MMA represents a novel link between aging and cancer progression, implicating MMA as a novel therapeutic target for advanced carcinomas.