Pancreatic cancer is a very hard type of cancer to beat, especially a kind called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. It’s very aggressive, and sadly, most people who get it don’t live longer than five years after they find out they have it.
There haven’t been good ways to treat it, but things might be changing thanks to some recent work by scientists.
At the Francis Crick Institute, a group of researchers, led by Axel Behrens, looked closely at a type of cell in these cancers called cancer stem cells.
These cells are really tricky because they can start new tumors and change into different kinds of cancer cells. They’re a big reason why this cancer is so tough to treat. So, figuring out if these cells are in a tumor is a big deal for coming up with new treatments.
The team studied these cells and found a special protein on their surface called CD9. This protein is there when the cancer is just starting and even when it’s fully grown. It’s like a flag that says, “Here I am!” which could help doctors find these cells more easily.
But there’s more. This CD9 isn’t just a sign; it actually helps the cancer cells become more dangerous. The scientists did experiments with mice and saw that if they reduced the amount of CD9 in the cancer cells, the tumors that formed were smaller.
If they increased it, the cancer got worse and tumors grew bigger and faster. They also saw that people with more CD9 in their cancer cells often had a harder time with the disease. About 10% of people with this cancer have a lot of CD9.
Next, the researchers wanted to understand why CD9 makes the cancer so bad. They found out that it helps the cancer cells take in more of a nutrient called glutamine. This nutrient is like food for the cancer, helping it grow.
With this new knowledge, the scientists think they can make new treatments that target CD9. By doing this, they could stop the cancer cells from getting glutamine, kind of like cutting off their food supply.
This could be a huge step forward in fighting pancreatic cancer and could save many lives.
This discovery is really promising. It opens a door to potentially effective treatments for a type of cancer that has been very hard to treat.
It’s a bright spot in the ongoing fight against cancer and a testament to the importance of scientific research in improving health and saving lives.
If you care about cancer risk, please read studies that exercise may stop cancer in its tracks, and vitamin D can cut cancer death risk.
For more information about cancer, please see recent studies that yogurt and high-fiber diet may cut lung cancer risk, and results showing that new cancer treatment may reawaken the immune system.
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