The pancreas is a small organ located deep inside the body behind the stomach. Even though it is not very large, it plays an extremely important role in keeping the body healthy.
The pancreas helps break down food during digestion and also controls blood sugar levels by producing hormones such as insulin. When the pancreas becomes diseased, the effects on the body can be serious.
One of the most dangerous diseases linked to the pancreas is pancreatic cancer. Among the different forms of this disease, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, often called PDAC, is the most common and one of the deadliest.
In the United States, pancreatic cancer is now the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Doctors and scientists have struggled for many years to improve survival rates because the disease is very difficult to detect early.
Unlike some other cancers, pancreatic cancer usually causes very few symptoms in the beginning. Many patients do not realize anything is wrong until the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body.
By the time it is discovered, treatment becomes much more difficult. Even after surgery and chemotherapy, the cancer often returns. Today, only about 13 out of every 100 people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive for more than five years.
Now, researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago are exploring a surprising new idea that may help fight this deadly disease.
A team of doctors and engineers is studying whether lidocaine, a common pain-relief medicine used by doctors for more than 65 years, could help stop pancreatic cancer from spreading through the body.
Lidocaine is widely used in hospitals and dental clinics to numb pain during medical procedures. It is considered a very familiar and well-understood drug. But scientists are now discovering that it may have effects far beyond pain relief.
The researchers focused their attention on what happens during cancer surgery. When surgeons remove a tumor, some cancer cells can accidentally break away and enter the bloodstream. These escaped cells are called circulating tumor cells, or CTCs.
Once they are in the blood, they may travel to other organs and form new tumors. This process is one of the main reasons cancer can return even after a tumor appears to have been successfully removed.
Doctors know that patients with larger numbers of aggressive circulating tumor cells often face a much higher risk of the cancer coming back.
After surgery, patients also need time to recover before they can begin chemotherapy. During this recovery period, the escaped cancer cells may continue moving through the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body.
Earlier laboratory research suggested that lidocaine might help reduce the ability of these cancer cells to spread. Scientists believe the drug may calm the cancer cells and make it harder for them to form new tumors.
If this happens, the body’s immune system may have a better chance of destroying the cells before they can cause more harm.
Dr. Gina Votta-Velis, one of the lead researchers, said this idea could become an important way to reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer returning after surgery.
If lidocaine can weaken the cancer cells during this critical period, it may help improve survival rates for patients facing one of the world’s most dangerous cancers.
One major challenge in studying circulating tumor cells is finding them in the blood. These cells are extremely rare. There may only be 30 to 40 cancer cells hidden among billions of normal blood cells. Detecting them is like trying to find a few grains of sand on a giant beach.
To solve this problem, Dr. Votta-Velis worked together with Dr. Ian Papautsky, an engineer who specializes in tiny fluid movements and medical devices. Together, they developed a small device made from glass and plastic that can separate cancer cells from blood.
The device is about the size of a finger and contains very narrow channels that act like a filter. Because cancer cells are usually larger and softer than normal blood cells, the device can trap them while allowing healthy blood cells to pass through.
This process is called a liquid biopsy because it allows doctors to study cancer cells using a blood sample instead of traditional surgery.
One important advantage of the new device is that it can catch the cancer cells without damaging them. This is important because scientists need healthy, intact cancer cells to study how they behave and how they respond to treatments.
The researchers compared their new device with another system called EasySep, which uses magnets to separate cancer cells from blood. However, magnetic methods may sometimes damage fragile cancer cells during the process.
When the scientists tested both methods using real blood samples from pancreatic cancer patients, the new device performed far better. It detected eight times more cancer cells than the magnetic method and often completed the process in as little as 20 minutes.
The discovery could have major benefits for cancer care in the future. Since pancreatic cancer is so difficult to detect early, a simple blood test that finds cancer cells quickly could help doctors diagnose the disease sooner. Earlier diagnosis often gives patients a much better chance of successful treatment.
Dr. Pier Giulianotti, another member of the research team, explained that understanding how cancer spreads through the bloodstream is one of the most important challenges in modern medicine.
He said many types of cancer travel through the blood, not just pancreatic cancer. Because of this, finding ways to track and control circulating tumor cells could eventually improve treatment for many different cancers.
This research offers new hope in a field where progress has often been slow and difficult. By combining a familiar drug like lidocaine with advanced technology that can detect rare cancer cells, scientists are developing new tools that may one day help patients live longer and healthier lives.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that a low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and vitamin D supplements could strongly reduce cancer death.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects the risks of heart disease and cancer and results showing higher intake of dairy foods linked to higher prostate cancer risk.
The study was published in the journal Lab on a Chip.
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