Pancreatic cancer is one of the most dangerous types of cancer, with very low survival rates. A specific kind, called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), is especially deadly because it spreads quickly and is hard to treat.
Doctors often call it a “silent killer” because it usually doesn’t show clear symptoms until it’s too late. Even with current treatments, only about 8% of patients survive for more than five years.
However, a new discovery by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute may offer a new way to treat this aggressive cancer. Researchers have found a key protein that helps cancer grow and spread. This discovery could lead to better treatments and give patients a better chance of survival.
The scientists, led by Axel Behrens, focused on a special group of cells inside pancreatic tumors, known as cancer stem cells. These cells are very important because they can create new tumors and help the cancer survive even after treatment. They are like the root of a weed—if they are not destroyed, the cancer can keep growing back.
In their study, published in Nature Cell Biology, the team identified a protein called CD9. This protein is found on cancer stem cells at all stages of tumor growth. It acts like a marker, helping scientists find these dangerous cells. But CD9 does more than just mark them—it actually makes the cancer more aggressive.
The researchers did experiments with mice to understand how CD9 affects tumor growth. They found that when CD9 levels were lowered, the tumors shrank. But when CD9 levels were increased, the tumors grew larger and spread more easily.
This finding is important because it matches what doctors see in real patients. Around 10% of people with PDAC have high levels of CD9 in their tumors. These patients often have worse outcomes, which suggests that CD9 is playing a big role in making the cancer more dangerous.
The study also found that CD9 helps cancer stem cells absorb a nutrient called glutamine. Glutamine is an amino acid that cancer cells need to grow and survive. By increasing CD9, cancer cells take in more glutamine, making them stronger and harder to kill.
This means that if scientists can develop treatments to block CD9, they might be able to stop cancer cells from getting the nutrients they need. This could slow down or even stop tumor growth. It would be like cutting off the food supply to the cancer, making it weaker and easier to treat.
While this research is still in the early stages, it brings new hope for treating pancreatic cancer. Right now, most treatments focus on killing as many cancer cells as possible, but many patients still experience a return of the disease. Targeting CD9 and cancer stem cells could lead to more effective treatments that prevent the cancer from coming back.
This discovery is an important step forward. Although more research is needed before new treatments are available, it gives scientists a new target to work on. For patients and their families, this study offers hope that better treatments could be developed in the future.
Pancreatic cancer has been one of the hardest cancers to fight, but breakthroughs like this bring us closer to finding a way to stop it.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
