Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, or PDAC, is one of the most dangerous types of cancer. It grows very fast and spreads quickly to other parts of the body.
Sadly, there are not many good treatments for it, and most people who get this cancer do not survive for long. Only about 8 out of every 100 people with PDAC live more than five years after being diagnosed.
Even though the numbers are not encouraging, scientists continue to look for better ways to treat this cancer. A team from the Francis Crick Institute, led by Axel Behrens, has made an important discovery that could help in the fight against PDAC.
Their research focused on special cells inside tumors called cancer stem cells. These cells are similar to the body’s normal stem cells that help heal injuries and grow new tissue.
However, cancer stem cells are harmful because they can create new tumors and turn into many different kinds of cancer cells. Learning more about these cells could lead to better treatments.
While studying these cancer stem cells, the scientists found something surprising—a protein called CD9. This protein sits on the surface of the cancer stem cells and can be found whether the tumor is new or has been growing for a long time. That makes CD9 a useful tool for spotting dangerous cancer cells.
But CD9 isn’t just a sign that points to the cancer stem cells. It also seems to help these cells grow and spread. The researchers tested this idea by doing experiments with mice that had cancer. They changed the amount of CD9 in the cancer cells to see what would happen.
When they lowered the levels of CD9, the tumors were smaller and did not spread as much. When they increased CD9, the cancer became more aggressive, and the tumors grew larger and faster. This shows that CD9 has a big effect on how fast the cancer grows.
The scientists also looked at medical records from people with pancreatic cancer. They found that people whose tumors had high levels of CD9 usually had worse outcomes. About 10 out of every 100 patients had high CD9 levels, and their cancer was usually more difficult to treat.
Next, the researchers wanted to understand how CD9 helps cancer cells grow. They discovered that CD9 helps the cells take in more of a nutrient called glutamine. Glutamine is like fuel for the cancer cells. It gives them energy and helps them grow. When CD9 is present, the cells absorb more glutamine, which makes the tumor grow faster.
This discovery gives scientists a new idea for treating PDAC. If they can create drugs that block CD9 or stop cancer cells from getting glutamine, they might be able to slow down or even stop the growth of the tumor. One possible treatment would work by cutting off the cancer’s fuel supply.
There is still a lot of work to do, but this research gives hope. Scientists now understand more about what makes pancreatic cancer grow and have a new target to aim for when developing new treatments.
Every discovery like this brings us one step closer to better treatments and, hopefully, better outcomes for patients. The findings about CD9 may lead to new ways of fighting one of the deadliest cancers.
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