The aging lung microenvironment awakens melanoma metastases.

In a recent publication in Nature, Fane et al. establish WNT5A as a central, age-sensitive regulator of the dormancy-to-reactivation axis of melanoma. They show that aged fibroblasts in the lungs suppress WNT5A signaling induced at the primary tumor site to awaken dormant melanoma cells and promote the outgrowth of metastases.