Tel Aviv University team uncovers how breast cancer spreads to the brain

Researchers at Tel Aviv University announced in early January 2026 that they had identified a mechanism that helps breast cancer cells colonise the brain, one of the deadliest complications of the disease. The work, published in Nature Genetics at the end of December 2025, was led by Professor Uri Ben-David and Professor Ronit Satchi-Fainaro of the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, with Dr. Kathrin Laue and Dr. Sabina Pozzi, and involved 14 laboratories in six countries.

By comparing tumours and metastases, the team found that breast cancer cells that lose part of the short arm of chromosome 17 are far more likely to spread to the brain. That stretch of DNA carries p53, a gene that normally guards against cancer. Without working p53, the cancer cells ramp up their production of fatty acids, which the brain's fat-rich environment demands. The cells also interact more closely with astrocytes, the brain's support cells, and use substances that astrocytes release to fuel this fat-making process.

A key enzyme in the pathway, SCD1, was especially active in cells lacking p53. When the researchers treated mice and samples of human breast cancer brain metastases with SCD1 inhibitors, drugs originally developed for other conditions, the growth of the brain tumours slowed. The results are preclinical and must still be tested in patients.

The authors say that because p53 loss can be detected early in the course of the disease, it could help doctors identify women at higher risk of brain metastasis, who might benefit from more frequent brain MRI scans and earlier treatment.