Metabolic vulnerability in fusion-driven ependymoma

<p>Nature Reviews Cancer, Published online: 12 March 2026; <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41568-026-00920-4">doi:10.1038/s41568-026-00920-4</a></p>In a recent study published in Nature, Natarajan et al. uncover a metabolic–epigenetic circuit in which glutamine-derived itaconate functions as an oncometabolite to sustain oncogenic ZFTA–RELA expression in ependymoma. Disrupting this pathway lowers ZFTA–RELA levels and suppresses tumour growth in preclinical models, revealing a promising therapeutic vulnerability in this aggressive cancer.