There is a large gap between the deep understanding of mechanisms driving tumour growth and the reasons why patients ultimately die of cancer. It is now appreciated that interactions between the tumour and surrounding non-tumour (sometimes referred to as host) cells play critical roles in mortality as well as tumour progression, but much remains unknown about the underlying molecular mechanisms, especially those that act beyond the tumour microenvironment. Drosophila has a track record of high-impact discoveries about cell-autonomous growth regulation, and is well suited to now probe mysteries of tumour – host interactions. Here, we review current knowledge about how fly tumours interact with microenvironmental stroma, circulating innate immune cells and distant organs to influence disease progression. We also discuss reciprocal regulation between tumours and host physiology, with a particular focus on paraneoplasias. The fly’s simplicity along with the ability to study lethality directly provide an opportunity to shed new light on how cancer actually kills.

对驱动肿瘤生长的机制的深入理解与患者最终死于癌症的原因之间存在很大差距。现在人们认识到，肿瘤与周围非肿瘤（有时称为宿主）细胞之间的相互作用在死亡率和肿瘤进展中起关键作用，但对于潜在的分子机制，尤其是那些在肿瘤之外起作用的分子机制仍然未知微环境。果蝇拥有关于细胞自主生长调节的高影响发现的记录，现在非常适合探索肿瘤与宿主相互作用的奥秘。在这里，我们回顾了当前关于苍蝇肿瘤如何与微环境基质、循环先天免疫细胞和远处器官相互作用以影响疾病进展的知识。我们还讨论了肿瘤和宿主生理学之间的相互调节，特别关注副肿瘤。苍蝇的简单性以及直接研究杀伤力的能力为揭示癌症实际上是如何杀死的提供了新的机会。