Researchers may be one step closer to developing new drugs that can stop cancer in its tracks, after discovering a protein that is essential to the spread of the disease. What is more, dietary fat appears to work with this protein to exacerbate the spread of cancer cells.

Lead investigator Prof. Salvador Aznar Benitah, of the Institute for Research Barcelona (IRB) in Spain, and colleagues recently published their findings in the journal Nature. This year, it is estimated that more than 1.6 million people in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer. While an increasing number of people are surviving the disease, almost 600,000 Americans are expected to die from cancer in 2016. The earlier the disease is diagnosed, the greater the chance of successful treatment. Once cancer has spread to other areas of the body - a process known as metastasis - it can be much harder to control and treat.