Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer because it is hard to find early and usually spreads before treatment begins.
Many people do not have symptoms until the disease is already advanced. Sadly, only about 12 out of every 100 people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer live longer than five years.
But now, a new study offers fresh hope. Scientists from the Sloan Kettering Institute at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and IRB Barcelona have made an important discovery about how pancreatic cancer begins and spreads.
Their work was published in the journal Science and may help doctors detect and treat this cancer more effectively in the future.
Most cancers start when a cell’s DNA gets damaged. This damage can cause the cell to grow and behave in the wrong way. In pancreatic cancer, a damaged gene called KRAS is often involved.
KRAS normally controls how cells grow, but when it changes or mutates, it acts like a gas pedal stuck to the floor, making cells grow too fast. This type of KRAS mutation is also found in lung and colon cancers.
However, the researchers found that this gene mutation alone isn’t enough to cause cancer. Inflammation plays a major role too. Inflammation is how the body reacts to injury or sickness. But if it goes on for too long, it can create an environment where cancer can grow more easily.
In the study, the scientists discovered that even one or two days after the pancreas is injured, inflammation causes changes in the cells. These cells become more active and are more likely to begin turning into cancer cells.
They focused on a type of cancer called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, or PDAC, which is the most common and aggressive kind. They used mice that had the same gene changes as human patients, so they could watch how healthy cells slowly turned into cancer step by step.
One of the biggest discoveries was about something called “cell plasticity.” This means that cells can change who they are and what they do. These shapeshifting cells are better at talking to nearby cells and can adapt easily. Inflammation helps this process happen, which may explain why cancer can grow and spread quickly.
The scientists also found that this transformation is not random. It happens in a certain order. If doctors can understand and interrupt this pattern, they might be able to stop cancer early.
To study the cells more closely, the researchers used a special method called single-cell analysis. This allowed them to look at each individual cell. They found some cells that acted like communication hubs. These cells were very busy sending messages to immune cells and other nearby cells. These early changes may help cancer spread faster.
This research is a big step forward in understanding how pancreatic cancer starts. If doctors can find and treat these early changes, they may be able to stop the disease before it gets worse. New treatments might block these first changes or stop the cells from sending harmful messages.
While more studies are needed, this discovery offers new hope. It could lead to better tests, smarter treatments, and maybe even a way to prevent pancreatic cancer in the future.
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