Scientists have discovered that a common dietary sugar may play an unexpected role in helping ovarian cancer spread. Researchers at The Wistar Institute reported in Nature Aging that fructose appears to act as a messenger released by chemotherapy-surviving cancer cells, allowing nearby cancer cells to become more invasive. The new study suggests they can also influence surrounding cancer cells through chemical communication. They found that these molecules alone increased cancer spread in preclinical models, showing that direct contact with surviving cells was not required. The researchers also found that high dietary fructose promoted cancer cell spread even when chemotherapy was not involved.