Researchers at the Salk Institute have made a major discovery about pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest types of cancer.
They found a special part of DNA, called a “super-enhancer,” that drives the fast growth of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common type of pancreatic cancer.
Their study, published in Nature Communications, also shows that an experimental drug can stop the growth of pancreatic cancer by blocking this super-enhancer. This finding could lead to new treatments for this hard-to-treat cancer.
Super-enhancers are very active sections of DNA. When certain proteins bind to them, they make some genes work much harder. This can cause cells to grow quickly or change in harmful ways. This study is the first to look closely at how super-enhancers work in pancreatic cancer.
The scientists studied 16 different human pancreatic cancer cell lines. They found that a super-enhancer linked to a gene called hnRNPF was much more active in cancer cells than in normal cells. When this super-enhancer is active, it increases the production of proteins that help cancer grow.
The results were powerful: when the scientists deleted the hnRNPF gene or its super-enhancer, cancer cell growth dropped by more than 80%. They also tested a drug that blocks a protein called Prmt1, which is influenced by the hnRNPF gene. This drug stopped tumor growth in lab tests and in mice.
The study also showed that a well-known cancer gene, Myc, can activate the hnRNPF super-enhancer. Since Myc has been very difficult to target with drugs, this new pathway gives doctors another way to fight cancers involving Myc.
To make sure this finding matters for real patients, the scientists tested cells from a human pancreatic cancer patient. They confirmed that the same hnRNPF super-enhancer was active. This suggests the super-enhancer could be used as a marker to track how pancreatic cancer is progressing in patients.
The next step is to do more research to see how well drugs that block this super-enhancer work in human patients. If successful, this approach could lead to better and more targeted treatments for people fighting pancreatic cancer.
“These results clearly demonstrate that this super-enhancer is relevant in humans and could even be used as a marker to monitor pancreatic cancer progression,” says Ronald Evans, the senior author of the study and director of Salk’s Gene Expression Laboratory.
If you want to know more about pancreatic cancer, look into studies about herbs that may help treat it, and therapies designed to kill the cancer from within. You can also read about what causes pancreatic cancer and how some plant compounds might help patients recover.
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.
The study findings were published in Nature Communications.
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