One of our researchers has identified a potential new treatment target for pancreatic cancer. Dr Miriam Martini, based in Torino, Italy, recently made this exciting breakthrough. Fewer than 1 in 10 people in the UK can be expected to survive 5 years or more after their diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, so this is fantastic news for patients.
What is pancreatic cancer and why is it so difficult to treat?
The pancreas is an organ in the body that sits behind your stomach and produces many important hormones and enzymes. It produces insulin, a hormone that regulates your blood sugar levels, as well as digestive enzymes that help your body to digest food and drinks into the building blocks that keep your cells working.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most challenging cancers to diagnose and treat. When a tumour develops in the pancreas it is often surrounded by dense scar tissue which acts as a barrier, blocking a lot of treatment from reaching the cancer cells.
In many cases, pancreatic cancer is also hard to detect because it is situated deep inside the body, making tumours hard to be seen or felt. The symptoms of pancreatic cancer can also be easily confused with other conditions meaning it is often not diagnosed until the cancer has already advanced.
What is pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma?
In 2022 over half a million people worldwide were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. A particular type called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 90% of cases.
Pancreatic cancer can start anywhere in the pancreas but PDAC grows from the cells lining small tubes in the pancreas called ducts. These cells are responsible for producing digestive enzymes.
PI3K-C2Y: a potential new treatment target for pancreatic cancer
Thanks to vital support from our Curestarters, Dr Miriam Martini and her team have been exploring how a protein called PI3K-C2Y is involved in the development of pancreatic cancer.
The team have used both mice and cell models of cancer to compare how fast tumours grow with or without PI3K-C2Y and found that without the protein tumours grow faster.
Their work indicates that PI3K-C2Y may function as a tumour suppressor in PDAC, acting as a stop signal to cancer cells which grow out of control.
The team are now collaborating with other researchers to delve deeper into P13K-C2Y and identify vital new targets for pancreatic cancer treatments. This research could pave the way for new pancreatic cancer therapies in the future.
What could this mean for future pancreatic cancer treatments?
Although survival rates of many cancers have continued to improve over the years, others like pancreatic cancer are lagging behind. We are delighted to see such promising results from Dr Martini and her team, and our hope is that this will lead to new treatments for pancreatic cancer.
Our Curestarter supporters enable us to fund this important discovery cancer research which is vital to help improve outcomes for future patients.
What is the latest pancreatic cancer research and news?
Dr Omar Khan and his team in Qatar are exploring whether targeting a tiny protein called RAB25 could help to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy for patients with pancreatic cancer. This work could one day lead to better treatment outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer, and for patients with other types of cancer too.
Dr. Patricia Sancho and her team in Spain have discovered a potential new way to treat pancreatic cancer. They have revealed how this deadly cancer manages to adapt and gain the energy needed to grow and spread across the body.
Excitingly they have also found a possible drug that could reverse this process and stop pancreatic cancer from spreading.
How can I support pancreatic cancer research?
As an international cancer research charity, at Worldwide Cancer Research we fund research anywhere in the world to start new cures for any type of cancer - and that includes pancreatic cancer.
Targeted treatments are a relatively new way to treat cancer that work by disrupting how cancer cells grow and spread. For example, Dr Silvestre Vicent and his team in Spain are currently investigating if combining a particular targeted therapy with another powerful type of cancer treatment could make them more effective for more people with pancreatic cancer.
By becoming a Curestarter, you can help more researchers like this find more new pancreatic cancer cures.
Your pancreatic cancer FAQs
What is pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma?
PDAC (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma) is the most common type of pancreatic cancer. It develops in the duct cells of the pancreas which are responsible for producing digestive enzymes.
Why is pancreatic cancer so difficult to treat?
Pancreatic cancer is one of the hardest cancers to treat which is why we urgently need more research to find new cures.
It is hard to diagnose because these symptoms often go unnoticed meaning the cancer is not detected until it has already spread. The more advanced it is, the harder the cancer is to treat.
Another reason pancreatic cancer is so difficult to treat is because a dense scar tissue forms around the tissue which acts as a barrier, preventing treatments from reaching the cancer cells.
Who is Dr Miriam Martini and what did her team discover?
Dr Miriam Martini is a world-class cancer research and an expert in pancreatic cancer. Her team have found that a particular protein, called PI3-C2Y, is key in pancreatic cancer growing. This suggests that this protein, or other proteins it interacts with, could be potential new targets for cancer therapies.
What is the survival rate for pancreatic cancer?
Unfortunately, survival rates for pancreatic cancer are particularly poor, and the more advanced it is the harder it is to treat. In the UK only around 5 people in every 100 with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis will survive for more than 10 years. We urgently need to research new ways to treat this devastating disease.
How common is pancreatic cancer globally?
In 2022 it is estimated that over 500,000 people worldwide were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
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