Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. A specific type called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, or PDAC, is especially aggressive. Right now, there are no truly effective treatments for this kind of cancer. Sadly, only about 8 out of every 100 people diagnosed with PDAC live longer than five years.
However, a new study from scientists at the Francis Crick Institute in London has given some hope. Their research, published in the journal Nature Cell Biology, may have found a new target for treating this tough cancer.
The study was led by Dr. Axel Behrens and his team. They focused on a special group of tumor cells called cancer stem cells. In the human body, normal stem cells help repair tissues and organs when they are damaged. Cancer stem cells work in a similar way, but instead of repairing the body, they help the cancer grow.
These cells can create new tumors and can also change into different types of cancer cells, making them very dangerous. Scientists believe that cancer stem cells are one of the main reasons cancers keep growing and spreading.
The first goal of the study was to find a way to spot these cancer stem cells. Dr. Behrens’ team studied the genes of the cancer stem cells and discovered that they had a special protein called CD9 on their surface.
They found this protein in both early and later stages of tumor growth. This is important because it means CD9 could be used as a marker to find cancer stem cells inside the body.
But the research didn’t stop there. The scientists also discovered that CD9 does more than just mark the cancer stem cells. It actually helps the cancer become more dangerous. To prove this, the team did experiments with mice.
They changed the amount of CD9 in the mice’s tumor cells. When they lowered the amount of CD9, the tumors were smaller. When they increased CD9, the tumors grew bigger and faster.
The researchers also looked at clinical records and found that patients whose tumor cells had high levels of CD9 generally had worse outcomes. About 10% of people with this type of pancreatic cancer had much higher levels of CD9 in their tumors.
To understand why CD9 made the cancer worse, the team studied how the cancer stem cells got their energy. They found that CD9 helps the cells take in more glutamine, a nutrient that cancer cells use to grow and divide quickly. Glutamine is an amino acid that acts like a fuel for cancer.
This discovery opens the door for new kinds of treatments. If doctors could develop drugs that block CD9 or stop cancer cells from absorbing glutamine, they might be able to slow down or even stop the growth of pancreatic tumors. This approach would aim to “starve” the cancer stem cells by cutting off their energy supply.
While these findings are still early and more research is needed, they offer a promising step forward. Pancreatic cancer is extremely hard to treat, and finding new ways to fight it could save many lives in the future. Thanks to studies like this, there is growing hope that scientists will one day develop better treatments for this deadly disease.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that artificial sweeteners are linked to higher cancer risk, and how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer.
For more health information, please see recent studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and results showing vitamin D supplements strongly reduces cancer death.
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