Cancer Hacks Neurodegeneration: Cystatin-C as a Bridge for Microglial Amyloid Clearance via TREM2

Historically, epidemiological studies have consistently highlighted an inverse correlation between cancer and Alzheimer's disease, yet the molecular link between these 2 distinct pathologies remained elusive. In a recent breakthrough published in Cell, Li et al. provide a compelling answer by revealing that peripheral tumors secrete cystatin-C, which binds to preexisting amyloid oligomers and activates triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) in microglia, leading to the clearance of preexisting amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease mice.