Pancreatic cancer is one of the most dangerous forms of cancer and remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. It is often called a “silent” cancer because many people do not notice symptoms until the disease has already spread.
By the time it is discovered, surgery is no longer possible for many patients. As a result, only about 13 out of every 100 people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are still alive five years later. Scientists have been searching for better treatments for many years, but progress has been slow.
The most common form of the disease is called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This type of cancer is especially difficult to treat because the tumor is much more complex than it first appears.
Surprisingly, cancer cells often make up only a small part of the tumor. In some patients, only about 10% of the tumor consists of cancer cells, while the rest is made up of supporting cells, scar-like tissue, immune cells, and other materials. This thick protective environment makes it difficult for medicines to reach the cancer cells.
Pancreatic tumors also have very few blood vessels. Because of this, cancer cells cannot obtain enough nutrients in the normal way. Instead, they become highly adaptable.
They recycle materials inside the cell, steal nutrients from their surroundings, change the way they use fats for energy, and find ways to hide from the body’s immune system. These survival skills make pancreatic cancer one of the hardest cancers to destroy.
A new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan has now uncovered a promising new treatment strategy. The research, published in the journal Nature, found that blocking two important targets at the same time—called PIKfyve and KRAS-MAPK—completely eliminated pancreatic tumors in several advanced laboratory models, including mice.
One of these targets, PIKfyve, is an enzyme that helps cells recycle materials. Inside every cell are tiny structures called lysosomes, which work like recycling centers or waste disposal units. They break down old materials so they can be reused. The researchers discovered that PIKfyve plays a key role in helping lysosomes recycle fats that cancer cells need to survive.
To investigate this process, the scientists studied specially bred mice that were missing the PIKfyve gene. These mice developed far fewer pancreatic tumors than normal mice. The team also tested two drugs, called apilimod and ESK981, that block PIKfyve. After ten weeks of treatment, the mice showed much less tumor growth.
The researchers then examined human pancreatic cancer cells in the laboratory to understand why the drugs worked. They found that when PIKfyve was blocked, the lysosomes could no longer recycle fats efficiently. As a result, the cancer cells were forced to produce their own fats. This unexpected change activated another pathway inside the cells known as KRAS-MAPK.
KRAS is one of the best-known cancer genes and is often described as the master switch that tells pancreatic cancer cells to grow and multiply. New medicines that block KRAS are already being tested in human clinical trials. However, these medicines often become less effective over time because cancer cells eventually develop resistance.
The new study suggests that blocking both PIKfyve and KRAS at the same time leaves the cancer with far fewer ways to survive. In some of the most advanced preclinical models available, the combination treatment completely removed pancreatic tumors in mice.
Although these results are still limited to laboratory and animal studies, they represent one of the most encouraging advances in pancreatic cancer research in recent years.
The researchers believe this approach works because it attacks the cancer’s energy supply and survival system rather than simply trying to kill rapidly growing cells. By disrupting how cancer cells recycle and use fats while also blocking KRAS, the treatment places the tumor under enormous stress.
The scientists are now studying the small number of cancer cells that survived in some experiments. They hope future treatments will combine this two-drug approach with therapies that activate the immune system, giving the body another way to destroy any remaining cancer cells.
Much more research is still needed before this treatment can be tested widely in patients. Clinical trials will be necessary to determine whether it is safe and effective in humans. Even so, these findings provide fresh hope that new treatment combinations could eventually improve survival for people facing one of the world’s deadliest cancers.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that a low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and berry that can prevent cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects the risks of heart disease and cancer and results showing vitamin D supplements could strongly reduce cancer death.
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