Metastasis remains a critical - and largely elusive - target in the race to prevent cancer-related deaths. Such is true in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), where the presentation or development of metastatic disease is usually fatal. In this edition of Theranostics, Qi et al. demonstrate a critical role of the zinc-finger transcription factor, OVOL2, in suppressing metastasis and maintaining an epithelial phenotype. These data add to the depth of understanding of the metastatic program in NPC, and may eventually lead to a druggable target in late-stage NPC.