RASSF1A methylation, YAP1 activation and metastasis: a new role for an old foe in lung cancer

The majority of lung cancer patients die not from primary, but metastatic disease. While mutations/rearrangements in oncogenes such as KRAS, EGFR and ALK, occur early in tumorigenesis, experimental evidence suggests that additional alterations are required to promote tumor invasion and progression (1). Despite knowing a great deal about the molecular pathways associated with the metastatic phenotype, little is known about how these factors become deregulated to drive the spread of lung cancer cells.