Having a blast.

We just questioned whether we should be looking at more than lymphocytes in tumor stroma, and now we have a resounding yes--as well as an eerie feeling about who is outsmarting who when it comes to treating cancer. A recent Science pub provides convincing evidence that, when (localized!) lung cancers get mad, they spit RAGE into the bloodstream. This soluble RAGE protein signals production of distant osteocalcin-expressing osteoblastic cells that then signal systemic marrow-production of specific tumor-enhancing neutrophils that wind up, you guessed it, back in the tumor stroma. This incredible cross-talk between a localized (is it really, though?) tumor and the rest of the body provides novel insight into potential therapeutic targets that could eventually help us keep lung cancers from having way too much fun.