Cancer cells deploy lipocalin-2 to collect limiting iron in leptomeningeal metastasis

<jats:title>Ironing out a survival strategy</jats:title> <jats:p> Metastatic cells display a notable ability to adapt to—and even thrive in—harsh microenvironments. One extreme example is leptomeningeal metastases (LM), cancer cells that enter a region of the central nervous system called the subarachnoid space, which is filled with cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). This anatomic site has a limited supply of micronutrients such as iron, and it harbors immune cells. Chi <jats:italic>et al.</jats:italic> used single-cell RNA sequencing to study CSF samples from cancer patients with LM (see the Perspective by Garzia and Taylor). They found that LM cells express and use components of a high-affinity iron-capturing system. Through this mechanism, the LM cells avoid the adverse effects of iron deprivation and potentially escape immune attack by limiting the supply of iron to macrophages. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:italic>Science</jats:italic> this issue p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6501" page="276" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="369" xlink:href="10.1126/science.aaz2193">276</jats:related-article> ; see also p. <jats:related-article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="doi" issue="6501" page="250" related-article-type="in-this-issue" vol="369" xlink:href="10.1126/science.abb7041">250</jats:related-article> </jats:p>