Pancreatic cancer is one of the most dangerous cancers, with very few people surviving after diagnosis. The most common type, called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma or PDAC, is especially hard to treat.
It spreads quickly, and most treatments don’t work well. Right now, only about 8 out of 100 people with this cancer live longer than five years after they find out they have it.
But now, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute in the UK have made an exciting discovery that could help in the future. Their study, published in the journal Nature Cell Biology, focuses on a special kind of cancer cell called a cancer stem cell.
Cancer stem cells are not the same as regular cancer cells. They are more powerful and dangerous. They can make new cancer cells and even start new tumors in the body.
This makes them a big reason why cancer grows and spreads so fast. If doctors could find a way to target and stop these cells, it might help treat this disease better.
The scientists, led by Axel Behrens, found that a protein called CD9 is present on the surface of these cancer stem cells. A protein is a small structure in our body that helps cells do certain jobs. In this case, CD9 seems to have a big role in how these cancer stem cells behave.
They discovered that CD9 is found in tumors at both early and later stages of the disease. This means it could be used as a marker to help doctors find these harmful cells. But CD9 doesn’t just help find cancer stem cells — it actually makes the cancer worse.
In their experiments with mice, the scientists reduced the amount of CD9 in cancer cells. The tumors that grew were much smaller than usual. But when they increased CD9, the cancer grew faster and made large tumors. This shows that CD9 is not just a sign of danger — it actually helps the cancer grow.
The researchers also looked at patient data and found that people with high levels of CD9 in their tumors had worse outcomes. About 1 out of 10 patients had very high levels of this protein, and they usually didn’t survive as long. This shows that CD9 may make the cancer more deadly.
To understand why CD9 has this effect, the team looked at how cancer stem cells get their energy. All cells need fuel to grow, and these cancer cells use a nutrient called glutamine. The scientists found that CD9 helps the cells absorb more glutamine, which gives them more energy to grow quickly.
This is an important finding because it opens the door for new treatments. If researchers can make a medicine that blocks CD9 or stops the cancer from using glutamine, it might slow down or stop the cancer. By cutting off the fuel supply, the cancer could become weaker and easier to fight.
Even though this is still early research and more studies are needed, it offers new hope. It gives scientists a new target to work with and could lead to better ways to treat pancreatic cancer in the future.
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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