Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest forms of pancreatic cancer. Currently, there are no effective treatments, and only 8% of patients live beyond five years after diagnosis.
However, a recent study from the Francis Crick Institute offers a glimmer of hope. The research, led by Axel Behrens and published in Nature Cell Biology, may have found a new target for treatments.
The team focused on a specific group of tumor cells known as cancer stem cells. These cells are similar to healthy human stem cells that repair tissues and organs.
Cancer stem cells can start new tumors and change into different types of tumor cells, driving cancer growth. Identifying these cells is crucial for developing new treatments.
The researchers analyzed the genes of cancer stem cells and found a protein called CD9 on their surface. This protein appears both when the tumor is forming and when it is more established. Therefore, CD9 could be used as a marker to locate these cells.
Interestingly, CD9 is not just a marker but also helps cancer stem cells behave more aggressively. In experiments with mice, the researchers altered the amount of CD9 in tumor cells.
They found that reducing CD9 levels led to smaller tumors, while increasing CD9 levels made the cancer cells more aggressive, causing larger tumors to form quickly.
These findings were supported by clinical data. Patients whose tumor cells had more CD9 had worse outcomes. About 10% of people with PDAC have higher levels of CD9, linking it to a poorer prognosis.
To understand how CD9 helps cancer grow, the team studied cancer stem cell metabolism. They discovered that CD9 increases the uptake of glutamine, an amino acid that provides energy for cancer growth.
This finding suggests that targeting CD9 could cut off the glutamine supply to cancer stem cells, effectively starving the cancer.
The researchers believe this discovery could lead to new treatments that target CD9. By blocking CD9, it might be possible to stop cancer stem cells from getting the energy they need, slowing down or even stopping tumor growth.
This approach could be a significant breakthrough in the fight against pancreatic cancer and potentially save many lives in the future.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and new way to increase the longevity of cancer survivors.
For more information about cancer, please see recent studies about how to fight cancer with these anti-cancer superfoods, and results showing daily vitamin D3 supplementation may reduce cancer death risk.
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